Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report

Summary

Our purpose at settle is to help people who are struggling to find a place to live. We help our customers to stay in their homes comfortably, so that they can live the life they choose. Our plan is simple: to make a telling contribution to solving the housing crisis, be a trusted landlord and be a place where colleagues love to work. As a place-based housing association we’re committed to providing good quality, sustainable homes, working in partnership with residents and increasing the supply of affordable homes in the areas we work in.

This is settle’s third annual Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report, following early adoption of the Good Economy’s sector-wide Sustainability Reporting Standard, ‘Sustainability for Housing’ back in November 2020. (See Sustainable Reporting Standard Metrics below).

During the year we also undertook our second SHIFT (Sustainable Homes Index For Tomorrow) accreditation. This assessment tells us how sustainable we are compared to the wider housing sector, and we are pleased to again have been awarded Silver. The analysis also identified where we could continue to progress, and we now have a clear plan in place to achieve SHIFT Gold status by 2027.

The themes in this report are aligned with 6 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are the United Nation’s blueprint and ‘an urgent call for action by all countries’ to collaboratively address key global challenges such as poverty, hunger, health, inequality and climate change by 2030.

This report demonstrates the contribution social housing can make to local health outcomes, clean energy, decent work and economic growth, sustainable communities, responsible consumption and climate action and our achievements against these areas during the last year.

Environmental

At settle we take our responsibility for the environment seriously. This is reflected in our new sustainability plan, which shows how we will play our part in the national programme to decarbonise our economy, support residents in fuel poverty and invest in green spaces within our neighbourhoods. While we are closely aligned to government sustainability targets, as a social purpose organisation we are committed to going beyond these and working in an environmentally sustainable way across all we do.

Tackling Climate Change

From our 2022 Group Carbon Audit, we know that 93% of organisational carbon emissions originate from our housing stock. With responsibility for over 10,000 homes, our strategy for building, retrofitting and maintenance will be key to managing these emissions. Our approach is “fabric-first” and we have committed £3.7m over the next financial year to sustainability improvements.

We have formed a sustainability partnership called Greener Herts with Hertfordshire-based housing associations B3 Living, Watford Community Housing and joined by Dacorum Borough Council during the year. We are working together to deliver strategies for achieving Net Zero Carbon, with our collaboration offering advantages of scale, shared expertise, shared technical ideas and joint procurement. In March 2023, we received confirmation of our funding application to the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). The funding secured by the consortium reflects a combined pledge of £25m from B3Living, Dacorum Borough Council, settle and Watford Community Housing, plus with an additional £14m provided by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). We are delighted to have secured £5m of this as additional funding to invest in 677 of our properties during the next two years, moving them to EPC C.

We have also worked with energy-saving specialist WarmFront to survey all our homes via thermal imaging. This helps us plan where we need to invest in installing energy efficiency measures and allows us to access ECO (Energy Company Obligation) funding.

In 2023, we published a new sustainability plan outlining our goals to have our housing stock reach at least EPC C by 2030, and to become Net Zero Carbon as an organisation by 2050. It considers sustainability in our homes, green spaces, operations, supply chain, people and talent. The strategy was informed by consultation with our customers, as customers are at the heart of what settle does.

We also engage our customers in sustainability via our Green Panel – a panel of settle residents interested in sustainability. The panel discusses sustainability topics that are important to them and holds us to account for our progress in achieving sustainability. Additionally, all new residents are provided with information on local sustainable transport options and energy saving when they start a tenancy with settle. Our website and newsletters share articles on sustainability – for example, water and energy saving tips – for customers to engage with.

As some of our homes move towards cleaner forms of energy, we remain aware of the need for affordable energy that is easy to manage and use. Tackling fuel poverty goes hand-in-hand with tackling climate change and we are continuing to research how we can manage affordability through user-friendly, energy-efficient interventions.

Ecology and Resource Management

Our estates activity will invest in green spaces and biodiversity as part of our mission to preserve the environments we are responsible for, in collaboration with residents. Over the past year, we have planted wildflowers in our Westmill estate through opportunities identified with the community and have worked alongside local groups to revamp a park, looking to create a sustainable space for the future. We are working on amending our grounds maintenance policy with a view to increasing biodiversity and moving away from grass cutting. A survey of over 1000 settle customers showed an interest in improving green space quality and increasing biodiversity, such as by re-wilding green spaces. As proud providers of social housing in the world’s first Garden City, we also encourage colleagues to use their Giving Back Days to maintain the green spaces in our residents’ homes where it is not possible for a resident to do this. For example, in the 2022/23 financial year, Giving Something Back Days supported customers with gardening, skip days and horticulture.

95% of waste generated by the voids and repairs services is diverted from landfill and our upcycling scheme distributes surplus household items across the housing stock to those in need. Our procurement tender process ensures that sustainability outcomes are a priority when choosing contractors and suppliers.

In 2022, we achieved a Silver SHIFT Sustainability Award. This demonstrates a business-wide commitment to monitoring our sustainability metrics and using them to generate ambitious science-based targets.

Social

As a well-run social business, our role at settle goes beyond being a landlord. Whilst delivering on our core purpose, we also re-invest surplus into achieving a wider social impact in the communities we serve.

Affordability and Security

We provide homes at up to a 56% discount to local market rates across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and South Cambridgeshire and 81% of our homes are set at social rents. Rent prices increase with national inflation but remain well below the cap for a registered affordable housing provider. This model allows us to provide housing security and affordable living to over 10,000 households in an area where waiting lists and property prices are high.

Building Safety and Quality

As of April 2023, 100% of homes have an in-date, accredited gas safety check and are compliant with a Fire Risk Assessment, which is carried out as required every three years. In the 2022/23 financial year, 100% of our homes met the Decent Homes standard. We have continued to increase our spend on planned investment through areas such as replacement doors, windows, boilers, kitchens, lifts, bathrooms, roofs and adaptations. We spent £14m on this investment.

Resident Voice

The Big Door Knock is an opportunity to hear from our customers and review our services. Colleagues across settle including our Executive team and members of our Board take part in this every few months. During 2022/23, we received over 939 pieces of feedback through the Big Door Knock. Our Voice of the Resident Panel acts as the bridge between customers, colleagues, and Board members, and helps us understand the impact our work has on people who live in settle homes. The panel’s role is to champion the voice of all settle residents by holding us to account on how we listen to and act on customer feedback. We share customer feedback, insight, stories, and case studies with colleagues at all levels across the organisation, including regular reports to our Board, who oversee our work. We also independently survey customers to obtain feedback on our services which lead to continuous improvement plans. New policies are scrutinised by settle voice, a group of over 300 engaged customers.

Placemaking

We are committed to placemaking through our ongoing regeneration projects. For example, we invited residents in Campfield Way, Highover Road and Icknield Way in Letchworth Garden City to join a resident steering group (RSG) as part of a regeneration programme. The group started in September 2021 and has met in the evenings at least 16 times to date. The group work collaboratively with our project team and an independent tenant adviser to ensure the new development will be a place in which to thrive. The RSG has produced a Residents` Charter which documents the background and reasons for regeneration as well as the commitments we are making to the community.

We are also working with communities in our wider neighbourhoods via surveys, drop-ins and community fun days to learn about their priorities and engage with the public to co-create solutions.

Governance

settle Group (settle) is a registered Co-operative and Community Benefit Society with charitable objectives.

Structure and Governance

Our risk management framework is embedded within the organisation. We identify and control risks at all levels, from the high-level Strategic Risk Assurance Framework to directorate-level Operational Risk Logs, and these are updated and informed by the regulatory, political and socio-economic environment. We also regularly consult Treasury and policy advisors in order to protect the business against external financial stresses.

Our Board has the responsibility for setting settle’s strategy and then monitoring the delivery of the strategy and settle’s business plan.

Board and Trustees

We are supported at settle by a skilled and diverse Board. With each new appointment, relevant experience is sought, and diversity is promoted. Our succession planning keeps this under active review.

Colleague Wellbeing

Annual Wellbeing benefits are available to all colleagues to support a variety of activities outside of work. Additionally, colleague wellbeing at work is promoted via our Together We Care champions, who organise wellbeing-focused activities online and in the office throughout the year. In January, our Wellbeing Week provides a variety of wellbeing workshops for colleagues to engage with, such as yoga and meditation. Mental health is prioritised at settle with reminders for all colleagues of the help available, for example our trained mental health first aiders.

Our Value Everyone group has continued to successfully promote diversity and representation across the business and has been instrumental in embedding settle’s EDI policy and strategy.

Social purpose is at the heart of what we do, and colleagues are encouraged to take two paid Giving Something Back Days to volunteer in their community each year. Our colleagues also vote annually for a charity of the year, to support and raise money for. This year, we supported Green Care at Norton and raised £3,122.66 through various fund-raising activities arranged by colleagues.

Research has been completed on our ethnicity pay gap, which builds on that which has already been completed to examine the gender pay gap, and both reports have been published on our website.

Supply Chain

Our Procurement Panel ensures that social and environmental value is factored into business procurement decisions. Currently, all tender documents require the provider to offer some contribution that would help settle to deliver on our social purpose strategy of reducing social isolation. Providers can make contributions by offering up time to carry out activities such as renovations of social spaces, donating items or making a financial contribution in the region of 0.5% of total contract value. In 2022/23, over £37,000 was generated for social purpose activities in this way.