Overview: We deserve better homes abroad

The summonds has finally come. After years spent waiting to be called for jury service, the slim brown envelope arrives, containing a kind invitation asking me to be a judge. On reading the small print, however, it seems that a life at the bar (the non-alcoholic variety) will never be an option.

The sort of cases I will be considering are of the bricks and mortar kind, for the Homes Overseas Awards. Rupert Bates, editorial director of Blendon, who recently announced the awards, explains: "We want to bring quality developments to the attention of the British overseas-property buying public - probably the largest single market for such purchases in the world."

And perhaps not before time. We are all familiar with the concrete high-rise hell that is creeping ever further around the Spanish Costas, but on a recent trip to Turkey I was surprised to find a radically different fishing village than the one I'd visited a few years earlier. This was not simply because of increased tourism, but because increasing numbers of Brits have bought second homes there. Not everyone believes this is a good thing. Turkish hospitality is legendary but some locals were dismissive of the kinds of buildings that are rapidly on the increase. The words of one local architect who showed me around were succinct: "If all of these estate agents were doctors then the patients would be dead." I could see what she meant. She has lived in the village for years and has witnessed the proliferation of new-build homes edging further up the hillsides, homes she believes are of dubious quality. Where once there was just one estate agent there are now more than 20, and all claim to be experts in design and to able to produce exactly what British buyers want. Yet do they? The tour revealed umpteen new developments, often hideous concrete blocks whose main purpose seemed to be to spoil the beauty of the surrounding countryside.

This scenario is not restricted to Turkey. Many British buyers on home-buying trips to Spain return empty-handed, weary from trooping around faceless building sites. Surely we all deserve well-designed, thoughtful developments that impact upon the environment as little as possible?

In the UK the benefits of good housing design to residents, the environment and to the regeneration of our cities has long been a high-profile issue. Overseas, it is a different story. Blendon also organises the What House? Awards, which encourages UK developers to think carefully about housing design. Bates hopes that the Homes Overseas Awards will encourage developers in Cyprus, Florida, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, the six most popular countries for British buyers, to do the same.

Development categories include awards for the best environmentally aware, best retirement and best exterior design. The closing date for any developer wishing to take part is 12 September. All will be revealed on 20 January, when the good, the bad and the sheer ugly will in turn be applauded, named and shamed. See you in court.