Today we were joined on our webinar by Dr. Ad Hereijgers from Ritterwald to discuss what their label means for the future of the SRS. 

The first step on any journey is a plan, and SRS Reporting is not a simple process! 

Today we hosted yet another successful webinar, this time choosing to focus on the future of ESG. 2023 will also bring in new challenges, including how to report on Scope 3 emissions, net zero targets and how to sustainably build new homes. The SRS can help massively with this as it allows for a collaborative effort amongst other Housing Associations. Convene ESG is working on assisting you with these problems by creating a Carbon Calculator and ensuring our “best practices” library is regularly updated. 

On 6 December 2022, Convene sponsored and participated in the NHF’s National Smaller Housing Associations’ Conference and Exhibition. Having attended the conference last year and had a valuable time, we were excited to once again dive into the world of smaller Housing Associations.

Smaller Housing Associations have many important concerns, from safety to financing. Therefore, it is easy for more seemingly trivial matters like Environmental Social Governance (ESG) to get left to the wayside. However, the knock on social impact of not taking these issues seriously for your residents, particularly during this housing crisis, are dire. 

It was time again for another of Convene’s ESG Webinars earlier today, if you missed out you can watch the recording here. 

There are numerous reasons you may want to develop more sustainable buildings. In the long term, creating carbon neutral homes should benefit your organisation as well as your tenants.

Our ESG Webinar today was well attended, for those of you who signed up but were unable to make it, be sure to check your inbox for a link to the video. Once again we were joined by Arturo Dell, our Convene ESG consultant and also a Housemark Director, and Russell Smith from Orbit Housing who has recently used Convene ESG to produce their latest SRS Report. 

Orbit Housing recently spoke at one of our coveted ESG webinars. Orbit Housing Group is one of Convene ESG’s early adopters and discussed how Convene ESG helped them to successfully execute their ESG goals. If you were unable to attend, you can read on for our summary or attend our next ESG webinar, keep an eye on our LinkedIn and your inbox.

Housing Associations in Australia have developed their own version of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS). The reworking of the UK standard establishes guidelines for dealing with ESG concerns in Australia.

Access to funds is an essential part of all business operations and this is no different when funding your ESG projects. Recently, there has been an increase in financial opportunities for those who can demonstrate their organisation’s sustainability efforts. We have written about how an SRS Report has helped housing associations gain access to ESG funds in the past. In this article, we will discuss the wider range of sustainable financing options available and what you can do to access them.

This week, Convene were delighted to attend the NHF’s National Housing Summit. We’ve attended a number of the NHF’s conferences in 2022 and were delighted to have another chance to connect with housing professionals from around the country. This year, the event was held at the ICC in Birmingham.

Standards are a part of daily business. We all have targets, processes and a quality of work we are expected to maintain. It is so engrained you may not even realise that what you are doing is part of a standard. These goals and methods not only help your organisation but also your industry as a whole.

Housing Associations in the UK have been signing up in droves to the SRS. This ESG metric allows Housing Associations to hone in on KPIs that actually matter to them. The benefits of a solid ESG plan can be seen in your profitability, not only because most schemes will save you money in the long term, but also because it can encourage external investors.