Sustainable homes, neighbourhoods and communities are at the heart of our commitment to deliver a home for everyone.
As the largest housing association in the South West, we recognise our business activities impact the environment and we have launched our environmental strategy through a genuine belief we have a collective responsibility for ensuring we contribute to sustaining the environment.
We recognise our responsibility to improve and have a positive impact on the lives of our customers, our communities and our planet. We strive to maximise our social value, good governance and environmental responsibility.
As part of our commitment, we have become early adopters of the Sustainability Reporting Standard to enable our investors, customers and all stakeholders to assess and measure our performance against each of the key criteria, and how they align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We are pleased to confirm that we have published our first Sustainability Reporting Standard (SRS) report.
We have also subscribed to Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow (SHIFT), which is also a sustainability standard for the housing sector. It is recognised by our regulator the Homes and Communities Agency and backed by Government. SHIFT provides businesses with an independent assessment of their environmental performance and works collaboratively to define actions for improvement.
The SHIFT assessment measures how housing organisations are performing against over 22 environmental criteria, including CO2 emissions, water use, landfill waste and response to climate change.
It looks at the 38,000 homes managed by LiveWest, as well as our offices, and supply chain, and measures them against 21 environmental factors, including carbon dioxide emissions, waste generated and diverted from landfill, and water use. Assessed organisations then receive a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum accreditation, depending on their performance.
We are proud to confirm we have recently been accredited SHIFT Silver following our first assessment.
Glynnis Poole, our Planning, Technical and Sustainability Director, said: “We are thrilled to secure Silver in our first assessment. It is independent recognition that our commitment to working in a sustainable way and reducing our carbon footprint is beginning to pay off.
“The assessment has provided a valuable understanding of LiveWest’s environmental performance and a clear understanding of areas for further improvement.”
SHIFT’s Managing Director, Richard Lupo, said, “This is a great achievement for LiveWest. Perhaps even more important than the accreditation, LiveWest now has a set of science-based metrics which it can use for strategy development, engaging with investors and monitoring progress towards a truly sustainable housing organisation.”
With plans to build around 7,500 homes in the next five years, our growth strategy will not only contribute to economic growth in the South West, but sustain up to 7,000 jobs in the building industry. Sustainability will run through the heart of everything we do.