Gordon More, chief investment officer of Homes England, said:
“As the Government’s housing delivery agency, Homes England works to increase investment into the affordable housing sector through our own funding and by connecting private capital and institutional investors with affordable housing providers. The affordable housing sector, with its clear impact on social outcomes is uniquely placed to meet investors’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives. For this reason, we commend the Good Economy’s work to develop an evolving approach to more consistent, comparable ESG reporting. Bringing together registered providers, lenders and investors with a common approach is a big step towards providing investors with the accountability they need to unlock wider institutional investment into affordable housing.”
Lord Bob Kerslake, Chair of Peabody Trust, said:
“The £2 trillion UK sustainable investment market is growingly rapidly, with an increasing focus on the positive impact of housing associations. As well as providing new homes, we help alleviate poverty, create jobs and economic prosperity, increase health and wellbeing, and support young people. We also have a shared commitment to getting to net-zero carbon as soon as we can, and helping to make cities, towns and communities more sustainable in the future. This sector-wide reporting standard makes a significant contribution to the aim of increasing private capital flows into social housing, and will help a better and fairer economy and society to emerge after Covid-19.”
Sarah Forster, CEO, The Good Economy, which led the process of developing the Standard, said:
“By working together, the social housing sector and financial sector have demonstrated how the lack of consistency, transparency and comparability in ESG reporting can be overcome. We’re delighted so many significant lenders, investors and housing associations have already committed to using the Standard and believe it will improve access to finance for the social housing sector – helping deliver quality, affordable housing for all those who cannot afford to buy or rent in the private market.”
Phil Jenkins, managing director, Centrus, said:
“The launch of the new reporting standard is a real testament to the collaborative approach of this sector and the hard work of everyone who has contributed to the process. This represents genuine progress, not only in offering borrowers and investors a consistent reporting framework around sustainability but also by providing a strong foundation for broader engagement between the sector and providers of responsible capital”
Shuen Chan, Head of ESG, LGIM Real Assets, said:
“As a long-term investor, we have a responsibility to protect our clients’ capital through integrating ESG considerations into our investment process. We believe this leads to better risk management and will drive long-term value. The UK affordable housing sector faces ever greater challenges. We are delighted to contribute to the development of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing as we believe it will play a pivotal role by providing a clear and consistent voluntary ESG disclosure framework that will help unlock investor capital to deliver more affordable and more sustainable homes for our communities.”
Will Perry, director of strategy at the Regulator of Social Housing, said:
“We welcome sector stakeholders taking the initiative to improve social landlords’ access to finance in a rapidly changing market.”
Naomi Roper, partner at law firm Trowers & Hamlins, said:
“In a post-Covid world it is clear that putting ESG considerations at the heart of your business is vital for success. The new Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing will help housing providers better articulate their already impressive ESG credentials to potential funders, hopefully opening up a new funding stream in the process. Trowers has been at the forefront of many significant developments in the social housing sector and we were delighted to be involved in this ground-breaking project.”
Tracey Barnes, chief financial officer at housing association Sovereign, said:
“The Sustainability Reporting Standard will play a pivotal role at Sovereign in our approach to performance reporting, enabling further transparency for our customers, investors, and other stakeholders. As early adopters of ESG, this will clearly drive environmental improvements and assure Sovereign’s clarity as an organisation of social purpose.”
Sarah Gordon, CEO at the Impact Investing Institute, said:
“This important industry-led initiative brings us one step closer to the adoption of high-quality standards for measuring, managing and reporting social and environmental outcomes across all sectors. A standard approach to ESG reporting will help improve the flow of private capital to the social and affordable housing sector, create more affordable homes across the UK and serve as a blueprint for other sectors that want to put impact at the heart of what they do.”