The Building for Life standard is the national benchmark for well-designed housing in England. The awards recognise and celebrate schemes that demonstrate best practice in housing and neighbourhood design.

Entries should demonstrate a commitment to high design standards, good place making and sustainable development.

Two thirds of planning applications for housing still do not involve an architect. Building for Life is urging housebuilders and architects to respect each other more.

Chair and leading designer Wayne Hemingway believes that the country will never get the suburban housing it deserves without a closer collaboration between architects and housebuilders.

"Unless they start talking and drop all the old stereotypes about prima donna architects and box bashing builders, we will never see the quality of housing to which everyone aspires" 

Accordia, Ingress Park, Abode and all the other previous Building for Life standard winners are proof of what can be achieved when architects and builders work closely together.

For the first time, the public are being asked to nominate their own suggestions for the Building for Life awards. They are also being invited to tell CABE about badly designed housing schemes.

The closing date for entries to the awards is 29 February 2008, and the winners will be announced in September 2008.