Andy Smith, Head of Housing Impact Services at The Good Economy, attended this years’ Housing 2023 conference in Manchester.

At the conference, organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), Andy took part in an ESG best practice workshop with other key figures from the housing sector. Other speakers included:

• Tracey Lyth, Group Head of ESG, Mears Group
• Richard Kennedy, Co-founder and Director, Cornerstone Place
• Eleanor Lindsay, Impact and Investment Management Consultant, The Hyde Group
• Imran Mubeen, Director of Treasury and Corporate Finance, Bromford

Andy gives a run down of his key takeaways from the session below:

• It is important to start with the problem that we are trying to solve, then build out a strategy and operationalise it. ESG reporting should flow from this point.
• Both Bromford and Hyde were very clear on their strategy, and what their operational KPIs are to track performance in key ESG areas.
• We need to ensure that lenders and investors continue to use the SRS as their basis for understanding the ESG performance of housing associations.
• The SRS is continuing to evolve, but we want to remain by the sector, for the sector.

Andy would like to thank CIH for inviting him to speak at this event.