An investor’s take on sustainability reporting – and where we’d like to see progress

The Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing

Standardised reporting enhances transparency within the industry, allowing for better comparability between providers.

This, in turn, advances the industry’s ambition for sustainability initiatives and best practices.

To support this, the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) was developed, facilitated by social impact advisory firm The Good Economy.

This standard is a collaborative effort involving participants from both the social housing and financial sectors.

The PIC was a founding member and remains a strong supporter of the SRS.

Recognised as a leading voluntary sustainability sector standard, the SRS enables housing providers to measure and communicate their performance in a consistent, transparent manner.

The impact of sustainability reporting

According to the latest Sustainability for Housing annual report, nearly half of housing providers (44 per cent) and almost all funders (92 per cent) believe that sustainability reporting has prompted housing providers to undertake actions they otherwise would not have considered, such as developing sustainability strategies and setting environmental, social and governance-related targets.

Reporting frameworks like the SRS are vital, especially since private companies are not mandated to report under the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.

We actively encourage all sector participants to adopt voluntary reporting standards, and support our partner housing associations in doing so.

We collect and analyse data from individual housing associations, encouraging alignment with the SRS.

This includes reporting on Scope 3 emissions, which cover the gas and electricity used by residents for heating and lighting their homes.

However, we notice that the methodologies are inconsistent among providers, which makes the data harder to use. We advocate a more standardised approach across the industry.

We are also keen to obtain more data on housing associations’ broader biodiversity impacts and social metrics, reinforcing the importance of alignment with the SRS.

Proactive engagement to enhance sustainability credentials

Throughout the year, the PIC has engaged with numerous housing associations regarding sustainability reporting.

During these engagements, we address a wide range of topics beyond environmental concerns, including residents’ health and safety (particularly fire safety and issues like damp and mould), human rights, modern slavery and gender pay gaps. These are all areas covered by the SRS.

The PIC has, for instance, reached out to a social landlord after it was graded non-compliant by the regulator.

The regrading related to the potential risk to the health and safety of its tenants caused by a lack of assurances around asset management certification.

We worked closely with the social landlord over the past year to understand how it was addressing the regulator’s concerns. This included recertification in certain key health and safety components of its assets and bolstering the experience on the housing association’s board.

The provider was eventually regraded to a compliant governance grade earlier this year, reflecting improvements made following our engagement, and changes in the executive team and board.

In 2024, the PIC also joined the Investor Forum, a collaborative engagement initiative focused on listed companies in the UK, which is expanding its work into the social housing sector.

This allows us to leverage multiple engagement routes, complementing and enhancing each other.

In conclusion, sustainability reporting is indispensable for the social housing sector.

It not only provides transparency and comparability, but also drives meaningful action towards sustainability.

We are committed to promoting and supporting robust sustainability practices across the industry, ensuring long-term benefits for both our policyholders and society at large.

Victoria Ruleva, investment stewardship manager, Pension Insurance Corporation