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The corporate world has been developing ESG strategies and reports for several years, as they have become a higher priority for funders when assessing suitable investments.

So, why is ESG important to the social housing sector?

The government has set the target of achieving Net Zero by 2050 and the housing sector is currently accountable for 40% of the UK’s energy usage. The committee on climate change in 2019 went as far as to say the country’s housing stock is sustainably unfit for the future.

How do we change? With greener homes being top of the political agenda, the vast majority of the UK’s 27 million homes will need to become zero carbon and the Future Homes Standard expects new build homes to produce up to 80% lower emissions compared to current levels.

To get there we need to secure funding as well as resident and community-buy in for greener, more sustainable homes – which is where ESG comes in.

To help define what should be included in an ESG strategy for the social housing sector, a working group of housing associations and consultants created a reporting standard comprising 12 core themes, including climate change and sustainability, corporate governance, human rights and diversity.

A recent survey showed that nearly 90% of social housing providers believe that ESG funding is important for their ability to meet future objectives – but only 44% said their organisation already has an ESG strategy in place and of the remainder, 29% do not have a strategy while 27% are unsure.

While the awareness of the importance of ESG is growing, there is still work to do before it is fully understood and embedded across the sector.

To get up to speed on all things ESG, join HQN, our partners Gridizen and our line-up of ESG experts, including guests from the ESG Social Housing Working Group, CBRE, Impact Capital and our Housing Provider case studies who will address the challenges alongside practical solutions.

What will be covered:

• The year ahead and the future of ESG adoption in social housing
• The Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing and the role of the ESG working group
• The ESG reporting framework and managing your organisation’s performance against those standards including benchmarking against environmental targets
• ESG – the future of sustainable finance
• Putting ESG into practice.

Why should you attend?

With the emergence of ESG as an increasingly important element of financing criteria, this event will take a comprehensive look at what is currently going on in the housing sector to meet these requirements. With speakers from both the investment and the housing sectors, we will be taking an in depth look at how organisations can better demonstrate their social and environmental impacts, and the governance that drives it. We will also hear from experts in the housing ESG space who will be talking about the tools and standards available.

What will you take away from the event? 

Delegates will gain a comprehensive understanding of the implications of ESG reporting for their organisations as well as an insight into what the investors are looking to learn. Attendees can learn from real-life case studies and get a knowledge of what tools and standards are in place to help them on their journey.

About our headline sponsors, Gridizen

Gridizen is a portable, cloud-based property management system that builds a thriving virtual community for landlords and residents. Gridizen recognises that housing associations face pressure from the latest regulatory and operational demands developing in the sector. Which is why Gridizen has built a number of sector-specific tools to support housing associations, whilst ensuring residents remain at the heart of every decision.

With the rapid onset of resident engagement and ESG (environment, social and governance) demands, housing providers are increasingly required to report on their performance – but collecting, analysing, and improving performance requires specialised expertise and resources, both of which can be costly.

As a data-driven solution, Gridizen’s proprietary ESG Analytics & Reporting Feature simplifies the data collection and analysis processes for housing providers, creating a performance dashboard, and accompanying performance report, readily available at the press of a button. Gridizen also creates a list of recommendations to enable housing providers navigate the complex challenges of modern housing, efficiently.

For more information visit Gridizen at https://www.gridizen.co.uk/ or contact [email protected] to get in touch.

• Andy Smith, Head of Housing Impact Services, The Good Economy
• Sarah Forster, CEO and Co-founder, The Good Economy
• Robert Whitton, Founder, Impact Capital
• Ian Wilson, Expert Investor in Affordable Housing
• Barry Malki, Director Social Squared
• Kamran Mahmood, CEO, Gridizen
• Fayann Simpson OBE, Group Board Member – L&Q
• James Caspell, Neighbourhood Director, Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
• Matthew Buckham, Communities Director, Sovereign.

If you are unable to attend an event or public training course, please let us know in writing (email is fine) at least 48 hours before. Please email [email protected]

Otherwise, a cancellation fee of £60 plus VAT will be chargeable.

If you are using a package place to attend and do not inform us within the agreed time frame, then a place will be taken to cover your non-attendance.

Cancellations must be made in writing, and will be acknowledged by HQN Limited.