A new roadmap can measure the social value of social housing

In response, HACT and Simetrica-Jacobs, together with over 50 social housing organisations, created and launched the UK Social Value Bank based on the well-being approach. This groundbreaking approach is based on the most robust evidence available, drawing on insights from large-scale surveys and, critically, being compliant with the HM Treasury Green Book.

The UK Social Value Bank pioneered a new way to measure social value. It was developed by the housing sector for the housing sector. It was designed to describe our social purpose.

“Across the sector, social housing organisations are using social value information in a way that they have never done before. It has moved beyond retrospective reporting and into business decision-making”

Since its launch in 2014, the UK Social Value Bank and the value calculator has been downloaded over 18,000 times. We have also developed three further social value calculators to help organisations measure their impact around mental health, community-led housing and community asset transfers. All four calculators are free for social housing organisations to use.

So much has changed since we first came together as a sector to find a better way to measure our social value. Now, across the sector, social housing organisations are using social value information in a way that they have never done before. It has moved beyond retrospective reporting and into business decision-making.

We have social value advisors driving forward the agenda in procurement and business intelligence. Social value is used to demonstrate the impact of our work and how we understand value for money.

It is being embedded into investment appraisals and used to forecast how much we can achieve for our people and our communities. It marks us out to our lenders, helping them meet their environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements.

While much has changed, the sector can do even more. Our approach and the tools we use also need to evolve. As a sector, though, there is no value in social value unless we work together.

As a sector, we can report our financial performance because we use the same accounting principles. If we want to report our social value performance, whether individually and collectively, we have to measure it using the same methodology.

The challenge we face is to ensure that how we understand and measure social value is fit for the business of social housing now and in the future.

This is why we launched the UK Social Value in Housing Taskforce in January 2020. It had three aims:

• To review the current social value landscape;
• To understand perceptions of the impact to date of the UK Social Value Bank;
• To identify key areas for development and research, informing next steps for social value in the social housing sector.

The taskforce agreed that our sector needs to work collaboratively to standardise our approaches so that social value information is better understood and respected, is available to measure performance, and can be used to support and enhance our regulatory returns.

It asked HACT to develop a roadmap that included an expanded UK Social Value Bank, along with resources and tools that could be used by any project in any social housing organisation looking to improve, demonstrate and maximise its social, economic and environmental outcomes.

The roadmap we are launching today is the first step in that process.

It consists of three stages:

• Stage 1: expanding the UK Social Value Bank with a broader set of well-being values, a new set of economic values and a new set of environmental values. In bringing together these different methodologies, we will ensure they are coherent, robust and avoid double counting, so that social housing organisations can apply social value metrics across their business with confidence.
• Stage 2: developing tools to use the UK Social Value Bank. These will enable social housing organisations to apply social value metrics across their business, whether in asset management and investment, ESG reporting, or regulation and value for money.
• Stage 3: applying the UK Social Value Bank to the business of social housing. In evolving our approach to social value, we will develop a range of services for social housing organisations, including social value assurance, social value audit and certification, social value benchmarking and social value innovation.

The social housing sector should be proud. We have always been at the forefront of generating and improving the measurement of social value.

Our roadmap will enable the social housing sector to use social value information to improve services, enhance decision-making and increase the impact we make.

Our roadmap is ambitious. Our roadmap is pioneering. Our roadmap will enable the social housing sector to use social value to improve services, enhance decision-making and influence stakeholders.

Together, we can do more.

Andrew van Doorn, chief executive, HACT