Orbit, the International business of Federated Hermes, and Raven have been confirmed as the third group of investors in HACT’s social value roadmap.
The three organisations join the likes of Gentoo, South East Consortium (SEC), Poplar HARCA, Longhurst, and Your Housing, who were confirmed last month as the second group of investors in the roadmap – whose goal is for the social housing sector to use social value information to improve services, enhance decision-making, and increase its overall impact.
“This year, we will be developing the roadmap so the sector can use social value information to improve services, enhance decision-making and increase its impact,” said Andrew van Doorn, chief executive of HACT.
“We’re delighted that these organisations will be joining us, bringing different perspectives, priorities and expertise to the social value roadmap. Together we can deliver the future of social value in social housing.”
The social value roadmap was launched in September 2020 after development by the UK Social Value in Housing Taskforce – comprised of 17 organisations including housing associations, the Regulator for Social Housing, and international experts in social value.
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Sam Scharf, director of Communities and Sustainability, Orbit, said: “With the increased focus on ESG by tenants, employees and investors, evidencing the widest impact we have as organisations, both from a social and environmental perspective, is critical.
“The Roadmap is a very welcome vision for taking the great work done by HACT over the years to a place that can support the sector to capture significant areas of work currently missing from that story.
“We are excited to join others in the sector to support this.”
Ben Sanderson, executive director of Fund Management at the International business of Federated Hermes, said: “At Federated Hermes, we are constantly seeking to increase the sophistication with which we measure the relationship between real assets, their occupiers, local communities, and wider society, and the natural environment.
“We define this as the holistic return of our investments, which we seek to deliver for our end-investors and beneficiaries.
“As an industry leader in sustainable placemaking, we are pleased to support innovation in the continuing development of wellbeing economics and social value measurement.”
Jonathan Higgs, chief executive at Raven Homes, said: “At Raven, we think it’s really important to measure social value so that we can tell the story of the change which we make.
“We have been using Wellbeing Valuation for many years now, and we are excited to be part of the journey to develop a tool which will improve the way we measure the value of the great work we do as a sector and help us to make better decisions.”
The roadmap will enable the social housing sector to use social value information to improve services, enhance decision-making, and increase the impact we make. The first meeting of the social value roadmap group is scheduled to take place later this month.
HACT is discussing involvement in the roadmap with over 30 more organisations from inside and outside the social housing sector.
Image: SmartPhotoLab/Shutterstock
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