EDITOR’S COMMENT As week two of COP26 draws to a close, it’s tempting to use this page to talk about the role the built environment has in solving the climate challenge. And, hot on the heels of government’s freshly announced Commercial Rents (Coronavirus) Bill, it would be easy to fill this page with reasons the proposed new binding arbitration process is another example of government failing to listen to the real estate community – or, perhaps, the real estate community failing to effectively communicate its worth and struggles to the government.
The Bill does seemingly ignore the very many small professional landlords out there and the pressure and constraints they face. Once again, the view of government is that tenants are the victims (some are, definitely not all), and landlords the villains (some are, definitely not all) who need to prove why they should be paid money owed to them.
Once again, the government seems to have taken a very simplistic view of how real estate works, with no reference to lender pressure, the impact of unpaid rent on valuations, covenant and what arbitration might mean down the line.
These are important issues and deserve airtime here, but every so often a story comes EG’s way that deserves extra-special attention. For some readers, what follows won’t feel business-relevant. If that’s you, I would encourage you to read on to understand why I couldn’t disagree more.
In this week’s magazine you will read two stories of transition. Two heartbreaking, yet empowering and inspirational stories of finding freedom.
Lee Butz, founder of District Technologies and winner of this year’s EG Tech Award, shares the story of their journey to non-binary trans. Their own prejudices towards trans before their transition and the absolute need for more visible role models in real estate, tech and business as a whole.
And a veteran surveyor shares their story of how at the age of 65, after a near-death episode, they found the courage to be who they knew they were since the age of five, transitioning to become Gaynor Mary Warren-Wright. And how the real estate community has largely been welcoming.
It is very easy to highlight the shortcomings of the real estate sector, but as Patagonia taught us last week, focusing on the failures isn’t always the best way to look at a situation. Let’s look at how far we have come.
EG featured its first openly trans person back in 2015 when Antonia Belcher, building surveyor and then partner at consultancy Mellersh & Harding, shared her story. Like Warren-Wright, Belcher was warmly welcomed – a clear sign of hope that real estate values the skills people have, not what they look like, who they are and whether or not they wear a dress.
Since then, EG has championed diversity and inclusion in many forms. We have celebrated people’s skills and expertise and what makes them them. But since Belcher, we have not championed the sector’s trans community. The very many talented and smart people in this industry who have the extra-special skill of being strong enough to fight to be who they know they really are.
To be able to feature two of these people – one at the beginning of what is sure to be a stellar career and another who, with decades of experience as someone else, is willing to stick with it as their real self (and become the RICS’s first transgender arbitrator) – is encouraging. The fact we can run these stories is exactly what a transforming real estate sector is all about.
We’ve talked about fear on these pages before. And how that has held so many people back from speaking out and speaking up. It is time for that fear to disappear – and we need to take Lee and Gaynor as examples. They should not be fearful. The fear should entirely be with those unwilling to accept difference or change. Don’t fear the transition. Fear the inability to transform.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
