The 10:1 Model
Ten net-zero homes, designed to be sustained by one hectare of permanent native woodland
This is the model as we designed it for Ireland in 2026. Nothing here has been built yet, and the Irish pilot is paused (where we are). We're publishing it because the thinking is sound and it's the foundation of everything we're now doing in England.
The Formula
NeighbourWood's vision is to develop homes on dedicated residential sites. Separately, land is acquired for the Nature Endowment: permanent native woodland held by an independent trust within 20 km of the residential community. Every home sold is permanently linked to the woodland through a dual-instrument legal structure, access rights, and community programming.
The woodland generates the carbon, biodiversity, and water value that makes the homes economically viable, and future homes more affordable. This isn't a trade-off between housing and nature. It's an integration that makes both more valuable.
Permanently Linked
Every home sale would include a permanent legal covenant linking the property to the native woodland. Homeowners would pay the Woodland Stewardship Fee and receive:
- Dedicated access to permanent native woodland held in perpetuity
- An allocated woodland section creating personal connection to restoration
- Seasonal programming — guided walks, wildlife surveys, community planting days
- Documented carbon sequestration and biodiversity outcomes linked to their home
- Stewardship Dividend potential as environmental revenue matures
This is the 10:1 ratio — the cap that ensures ecological integrity.
The Nature Endowment
What it is
The Nature Endowment would be permanent native Irish woodland, owned by an independent trust: a company limited by guarantee with an irrevocable asset lock. The land would be protected by a dual-instrument legal structure, designed to make the protection permanent and bankable, so the land could never be sold, developed, or converted.
It would be established on agricultural land within 20 km of the residential sites it serves, planted with native Irish woodland (oak, birch, Scots pine, rowan, holly, hazel, alder, and willow) following national guidelines for native woodland establishment.
Why the trust would be independent
The trust would be independent of NeighbourWood, with an irrevocable asset lock: the woodland could not be sold, even if NeighbourWood ceased to exist. It would be governed for the permanent benefit of the woodland and the communities it serves.
NeighbourWood would hold a 99-year exclusive license to the environmental credit rights and pay the trust a 10% license fee on net credit proceeds, creating aligned incentives: NeighbourWood succeeds when the woodland succeeds.
How the Woodland Funds Affordability
The 10:1 Model is designed so that each development makes the next one more affordable. Here's how.
As each woodland matured, it would generate verified environmental credits — carbon sequestration (NRS-C), biodiversity uplift (NRS-B), and water quality improvements (NRS-W). NeighbourWood would hold a 99-year license to these credits. Revenue from credit sales would be allocated through a transparent waterfall:
- Woodland stewardship costs — ensuring the woodland is professionally managed in perpetuity
- Trust license fee — 10% of net credit proceeds to the independent trust
- Home Affordability Fund — a dedicated allocation to subsidise the price of future homes
- Reinvestment — remaining revenue funds new woodland establishment and platform development
The woodland would grow in ecological and financial value every year. That compounding value is the mechanism designed to make each successive development more affordable — not through government subsidy, but through the model itself generating affordability.
Stay in touch
We'll write when there's real news about NeighbourWood in Ireland.