Some of the UK’s largest housing associations, investors and advisers have joined forces to boost social housing investment and ESG in the sector.
Peabody, the Good Economy and Centrus have released guidelines for housing associations and the private sector to achieve long-term goals.
It is backed by Homes England, M&G Investments, Savills and Trowers & Hamlins; housing associations Clarion, Sovereign and Optivo; and organisations Insight Investment, Big Society Capital and the Impact Investing Institute.
The guide provides 10 themes and 45 metrics for investors to measure ESG performance. These include a focus on affordability, residents’ voice and staff wellbeing, with investment in placemaking and community.
The project was started by housing association Peabody and corporate finance firm Centrus, bringing together a working group of experts to research and develop ESG criteria for the sector.
Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive of Peabody, said: “The sector’s robust response and focus on supporting vulnerable people through the current crisis shows the sector at its best.
“We are financially strong and well equipped to work in partnership to help tackle the important challenges facing the country.”
Sarsfield said the white paper was a starting point for business to “demonstrate our impact more effectively and generate the funds to enable the sector to do more”.
Gordon More, chief investment officer at Homes England, said it supported “the rationale for a sector standard approach to ESG reporting”.
More added: “We encourage the sector to embrace this approach and co-create common metrics and standards that will help to unlock wider private sector investment.”
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