The SRS has been around since 2020 as an ESG reporting framework for the Housing sector, but how much it has helped progress social housing providers in their ESG performance has always been a question.
An annual review of the SRS published this month by Sustainability for Housing, alongside The Good Economy, has answered this question.
The review highlights that housing providers who adopted the standard made significant strides in ESG areas, including in energy efficiency, affordability, and social equity. It also found that the SRS is providing better information to help assess ESG performance in the sector.
These findings demonstrate significant progress on the goals set by the SRS when it was created. But first, a quick reminder about what the SRS is, before we take a further look into the exact findings of this review.
What is the SRS?
The Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing was published in November 2020 as a voluntary reporting framework for ESG concerns, designed specifically for the social housing sector.
It details 48 ESG issues that the Housing Association sector should take into consideration; from stakeholder engagement to net zero carbon targets.
The standard was set up in response to concerns that ESG investment in the social housing sector was being inhibited by the absence of a common reporting standard. It focuses ESG efforts on targets that are relevant for the sector rather than the overarching ESG standards set for all industries.
The SRS helps provide lenders and investors a clear look at the ESG performance of both Housing Associations and the social housing sector as a whole.
SRS reports focus on their positive social impact, energy efficiency of their buildings and other functional requirements in terms of environmental, social and governance metrics of providing affordable homes.
Since the SRS was launched it has attracted 157 Adopters, responsible for approximately 2.4 million homes across the UK. This includes 120 housing providers and 37 funders, managing assets worth more than £1 trillion.
What progress has been made from the SRS?
The Sustainability for Housing’s annual review of the SRS found that the reporting standard is delivering better data to funders, and improving on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics.
A survey conducted as part of the annual review of the SRS found that 77% of funders to the sector believe the SRS has led to the presentation of more useful information to assess ESG performance in the sector.
The findings of this survey are especially motivating considering one of the key goals of the SRS when it was created in 2020 was to connect housing associations with funders looking for ESG investments.
Another key aim of the standard has been to drive improvements on ESG performance. The annual review found that progress is also being made on this front, with adopters improving in areas such as equal pay and energy efficiency.
The survey, which gathered responses from 98 housing providers and funders, also found that:
- 74% of housing providers found it easy or very easy to report against the SRS, with a fifth of providers finding the process easier the second or third time around.
- 58% of housing providers are using the SRS to benchmark their ESG performance against their peers to some extent.
- 44% of housing providers, and 92% of funders agree that the development of ESG reports has led housing providers to do things that they would not have done otherwise or at least accelerated their implementation of planned sustainability actions.
Brendan Sarsfield, Chair of SfH, said “The SRS has become an essential tool for driving positive change and fostering transparency. SfH looks forward to continuing our work with housing providers to build a more sustainable and equitable future.”
This annual review, the third since the SRS’s inception, underscores the positive impact the standard is having, and will continue to have, on the sector.
Why this report on the SRS matters
This review of the SRS by Sustainability for Housing is crucial for the sector. With so many Housing providers voluntarily adopting the SRS, it’s important that the standard delivers in making ESG progress.
The report demonstrates that the effort in implementing the standard has been worth it in improving ESG performance. ESG reporting can be tricky but it helps keep everyone in the sector focused on the issues at stake, which helps employees, residents and investors prioritise sustainability and good governance above all.
The SRS means that ESG scores are more sector specific, which helps in evaluating exactly how Housing as a sector is prioritising sustainability.
Having regular reliable ESG reports helps organisations to begin to make a difference on their ESG goals. The first step of this is an effective and engaging ESG report, which the SRS has clearly helped in formatting. The standard aims to hone in on the core issues as well as some more expansive ESG goals, and it’s clear that this is working.
Convene ESG and the SRS
Convene ESG goes hand in hand with the SRS to help your social housing provider achieve the best ESG performance possible.
Housing associations such as Orbit, Cartrefi Conwy, and WHG are all now using Convene ESG to easily collect data, track targets and produce their SRS-compliant ESG reports. By simplifying and automating much of the process, you can be sure that your ESG report building runs smoothly.
Our aim is to alleviate some of the challenges of ESG data gathering, performance tracking, and reporting for ESG factors so Housing associations can instead focus on developing their sustainable strategies.
Convene ESG also has a built-in comparison feature, which allows you to compare against competitors’ formatting of their publicly accessible reports. This will help your organisation develop the best results possible.
Convene ESG is designed for Housing Associations with the assistance of Housing Associations. Our Early Adopters discussed with us what they needed and with their requirements we developed a tool that would help Housing Associations generate the best ESG and SRS Reports possible.
