For October 2023 reporting, please report against SRS Version 1.2. For reporting in October 2024 and onwards, please report against SRS Version 2.0.

Housing providers should report against all criteria. If a housing provider is unable to disclosure against a certain criterion, for example because they do not have the data, it is expected that they disclose why they are unable to report and when they expect to be able to do so.

A disclosure of ‘We do not currently have the data system in place to capture and report against this, but we are working to be able to do so by October 2024’ is a valid response, for example.

Please report on the 12 months to financial year end, and then publish your report 6 months later in October. For example, for the 2022 reporting cycle, it is expected that housing providers report on the period of 6^th April 2021- 5^th April 2022, and publish their report in October 2022.

There is no formal ‘submission’ of your SRS report. Instead, housing providers are expected to publish their report in the public domain, such as on their website. Nevertheless, housing providers are encouraged to send their SRS report (or a link to it) to SfH when they do publish.

Additionally, SfH asks that all Adopters enter their disclosure (i.e. copy and paste from their report) into SfH’s ‘Input Tool’ – this can be accessed via the Adopter Hub on SfH’s website.

Reporting against the SRS is a self-disclosure. This means that it is not submitted, reviewed, assessed, or assured by SfH, nor is there a requirement for verification to be conducted by a third-party.

There are organisations who provide ESG audit services, which may be of interest to some Adopters, but this is not a requirement or expectation.

There is no specification on report length or design. Housing providers have a range of capacities when producing their ESG report; some providers choose a simple table or appendix to their annual report, others product an independent ESG report with numerous case studies – all approaches are acceptable.

Where possible, it is encouraged that Adopters design a report that is engaging and easy to read, as this will encourage residents to engage with it.

Yes, housing providers can insert case studies and additional information that they considered to be relevant, interesting, or otherwise material to their stakeholders at their own discretion. However, it is expected that all criteria in the SRS are reported against, and if possible, in the correct order.

Sustainability for Housing (SfH) is a company limited by guarantee and run by a voluntary board that is responsible for the development, promotion, and strategic direction of then SRS. SfH was established in 2021 following the appointment of its board by the ESG Social Housing Working Group. The group consisted of housing associations and funders that came together with the objective of helping to facilitate access to competitive finance and unlock new investment in social housing. SfH’s board consists of eight highly experienced senior professionals from the worlds of housing and finance, and is chaired by Brendan Sarsfield, previous CEO of Peabody. A key objective of SfH is to grow the SRS community and to establish the Standard as the trusted, go-to ESG reporting framework for the sector.

An SRS Adopter is an organisation who formally commits to using the Standard.

We ask that you return out ‘Adopter Commitment Statement’ to us (via email) from a director or equivalent. This can be requested by emailing srs.contact@thegoodeconomy.co.uk.

The commitment statement outlines the following responsibilities:

• Adopting housing providers commit to annually report against the Standard and publicly disclose it (i.e. publish on their website).
• Adopting funders commit to integrate the Standard into their tools, processes and/or products (such as part of due-diligence or the use of metrics in sustainability-linked finance).
• All Adopters are also expected to provide feedback on the Standard and encourage others in the sector to Adopt or Endorse it.

The Standard is open-source – it is free to download and report against. If organisations want to formally adopt, then an annual contribution is expected, depending on your organisation’s size.

The subscription fees are outlines below:

• 1^st year of adoption – Free for all Adopters
• Housing providers with <1k homes – Free
• Housing providers with 1-10k homes – £1k per annum
• Housing providers with 10-50k homes – £3k per annum
• Housing providers with 50k+ homes – £10k per annum
• Financial institutions – to be discussed directly, but approximately £10k per annum.

SfH is a non-profit company run by a voluntary board. There are no employees, shareholders, assets, liabilities or operations in the company, and no board remuneration. The funding raised is therefore focused almost entirely on the development and promotion of the SRS, besides what is paid to Crowe for accountancy services. The Good Economy (TGE), the current secretariat and co-creator of the Standard, is responsible for the day-to-day operations and management, leading the development of the SRS and Adopter community, from webinars to annual reports. Communications partner Social is a specialist ESG and housing communications agency that has delivered the website and leads on all communications, while working with TGE to consult and engage the sector on the Standard’s development, whilst delivering events, content, and reports. Both TGE and Social work on a discounted rate in support of the Standard.

There are many benefits of becoming a formal Adopter of the SRS. These include;

• Receiving an ‘Adopter’ badge to publicly demonstrate your commitment to ESG reporting
• Featuring on SfH’s media platforms (including in the SRS Directory on the SfH website) to enhance visibility and connectivity in ESG and social housing
• Gaining access to exclusive content, webinars and events, such as on reporting guidance as well as technical support services.

Importantly, Adopters will also be;

• Part of growing community that is supporting the sector and its residents on the ESG journey
• Helping to lead and shape the reporting of the sector’s sustainability performance
• Enabling funders to assess the ESG performance of housing providers, to facilitate greater access to finance
• Supporting work with residents and other stakeholders to create positive social and environmental outcomes

New Adopters of the SRS are not expected to report against the Standard until the following reporting year. This ensures that housing providers have sufficient time to put in appropriate data collection and reporting processes.

For example, if you became an Adopter in February 2023, you would not be expected to report until October 2024, thereby ‘skipping’ October 2023 reporting. However, it is encouraged that housing providers report against the Standard as soon as they can do so.