Expert panel discusses ESG in the living sector amid general election counting
Whilst the votes were still being counted from the General Election, Iterum’s Christopher Wilson joined an expert panel including Brent Stojanovic of VervLife, Brendan Geraghty of the The Association for Rental Living, and Niamh Waldron from Sigma Capital Group Limited, chaired by George Sell of Urban Living News, for a fascinating panel chat looking at sustainable design and operations within the living sector. They sought clarity, long-term vision, and support regarding what residents versus investors want with regards to ESG.
Asked whether residents were ready to pay more for sustainable homes, Brent and Niamh noted that, unlike the top end of travel or easier lifestyle choices such as reusable drinks containers, the decision around renting and home ownership was still principally driven by location and affordability. However, as companies head towards net-zero ambitions, looking at scaling passive home standards into large institutionally owned living sector asset classes and increasing spending on ESG initiatives, the question was asked: how do we measure the ROI?
Currently, there are a plethora of accreditation bodies, each working at a slightly different market point. Niamh and Brendan agreed the best body for the consumer was the EPC rating, but they also agreed that it was far from accurate and created problems for developers when it was used to assess green loans due to the lack of standardisation or long-term outlook.
In short, it was agreed there is no silver bullet on ESG for the industry or consumer. However, there are significant small changes that are being made and will have a larger impact. Brent again noted the importance of educating and supporting residents, and the use of property technology had a huge role to play. Chris noted the central aspect of ESG strategies for reporting data to feedback to investors and residents alike. Good technology allows monitoring of services and pre-emptive maintenance to ensure maximum operational efficiency and therefore maximise the ROI. He concluded, "what gets measured, gets managed."
To see the full webinar, click here https://lnkd.in/e9NJ_66m.
To see how Iterum could help your journey towards net zero, click here https://lnkd.in/e6TsSwKB.
