Housing and real estate businesses step up to further the social value movement

Cloud-based social value measurement tool and consultancy, Social Value Portal, has recently welcomed a number of high profile real estate clients to its portfolio, working with them to track, measure, evaluate and report on social value contributions throughout their activities in the UK.

The new additions join well-known names in the sector including; Landsec, Savills, Brookgate and Ellandi who also work with Social Value Portal to maximise and report their social impact. L&Q, which announced its plan to invest more than £1bn in improving its homes and neighbourhoods last year, will be working with Social Value Portal to demonstrate the positive social impact of their activities.

Matt Corbett, Director of the L&Q Foundation, said; “Our work in the housing sector provides us with multiple opportunities to improve the lives of people with a wide range of needs, giving us a social purpose that drives our business forwards.

“The next logical step is to measure and report the positive impact in a way that stakeholders, communities, clients and investors can appreciate. Our work with Social Value Portal will not only deliver on this front, but the evaluation process also helps to highlight areas where we can improve our social value offering, particularly through procurement.”

Mears, one of the largest housing solutions providers in the UK, is working with Social Value Portal to measure the social value generated across the nation. With a commitment for every colleague (currently 5,500 employees) to participate in social value projects, Mears will be using the Portal to harness their full contribution to society all in one place.

Gary Jackson, spokesperson for Mears said: “Through our work in the public sector, we are already very familiar with social value so the key benefit for us in appointing Social Value Portal, is the depth of analysis that is possible, taking into account the complexities of operating in such a wide range of communities.”

As the developer of one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe, Canary Wharf Group (CWG) is responsible for the regeneration of 128 acres of the once derelict Docklands district of East London where it now manages and owns interests in almost 9 million square feet of mixed use space.

With a long and proven track record of partnering with community initiatives and projects in the East London boroughs, CWG have chosen to work with Social Value Portal to join the dots between their wealth of data to deliver a strategy that measures and generates significant social impact within their communities.

Jane Hollinshead, managing director of People & Culture at CWG said: “CWG has created an extraordinary environment where people can live, work and thrive on the Canary Wharf estate.”

Guy Battle, CEO, Social Value Portal said: “Thanks to its close working relationship with the public sector, real estate has been an early adopter of social value and we are proud to add L&Q, Mears and Canary Wharf Group to our growing portfolio of businesses looking to measure and report their social impact in a way that has depth and clarity, whilst also highlighting opportunities to make the good that they do, go even further.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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