A survey conducted as part of the annual review of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) has found that housing associations are progressing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics.

The survey found that more than three-quarters of funders to the sector (77%) believe the SRS has led to the provision of better and more useful information to assess ESG performance in the sector.

The findings of the survey are encouraging as they demonstrate progress on one of the key goals set out when the SRS was created in 2020: to connect housing associations with funders looking for ESG investments. 

Another key aim of the SRS is to drive improvements on ESG performance. The third annual review found that progress is also being made on this front too, with Adopters improving in areas such as energy efficiency and equal pay.

The survey, which gathered responses from 98 housing providers and funders, also found that:

• 74% of housing providers found it easy or very easy to report against the SRS, with a fifth of providers finding the process easier the second or third time around. 
• 58% of housing providers are using the SRS to benchmark their ESG performance against their peers to at least some extent.  
• Close to half of housing providers (44%), and almost all funders (92%) agree that the development of ESG reports has led housing providers to do things that they otherwise would not have done or to accelerate their implementation of planned actions, such as create sustainability strategies and set ESG-related targets. 

Brendan Sarsfield, Chair of SfH, said: “We are incredibly proud of the progress our Adopters have made in enhancing their ESG performance. The increase in energy-efficient homes and the continued delivery of affordable housing are testaments to the sector’s resilience and commitment to sustainability.

“The SRS has become an essential tool for driving positive change and fostering transparency. SfH looks forward to continuing our work with housing providers to build a more sustainable and equitable future.”

The SRS was launched in November 2020 as a pioneering framework for transparent, consistent, and comparable ESG reporting for the social housing sector. Today, the SRS has attracted 157 Adopters, responsible for approximately 2.4 million homes across the UK. This community includes 120 housing providers and 37 funders, managing assets worth more than £1 trillion. 

This annual review, the third since the SRS’s inception, provides a comprehensive analysis of the ESG performance of Adopters and underscores the positive impact of the Standard on the sector.