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How should we measure ESG in residential investment? 

Anna Clare Harper discusses, with Alex Notay, Director at Thriving Investments, and internationally recognised expert on Build to Rent and ESG in residential.

In Anna's words: 

Alex Notay is Placemaking & Investment Director at Thriving Investments, which aims to be the most socially responsible asset management company in the housing sector, and is part of Places for People. 

She’s an internationally recognised expert on Build to Rent and ESG in residential, and she has helped lead residential and ESG committees for leading industry bodies ULI, BPF and AREF.

So she was the perfect guest to explain how we should be measuring ESG risks and impacts in residential.

We covered topics including:

• What are the key trends shaping how we approach sustainability?
• Which are the best of 500+ real estate and sustainability benchmarks for residential?
• Key lessons from writing (my personal favourite ESG report of recent years), ‘Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG): Why it matters and how to get started - A Guide for the Institutional PRS (British Property Federation)

BPF Residential ESG Guidance report: https://bpf.org.uk/media/4534/bpf-residential-esg-guidance.pdf

Guest website: https://www.thrivinginvestments.co.uk/

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandranotayparr/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

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What is Net Zero for UK homes? 

Anna Clare Harper discusses with Phil Mason, Head of Regulatory Engagement at Trustmark, the government endorsed quality scheme for home improvements.

In Anna's words:

I chatted to Phil Mason, Head of Regulatory Engagement at Trustmark, the government endorsed quality scheme for home improvements, an organisation that is critical for the urgent retrofit of UK homes, about the impact of regulations on retrofit and the path to Net Zero for homes.

We covered:

• What Net Zero means for UK homes 
• The path of least resistance for achieving Net Zero 2050 - avoiding inefficiencies and just ‘retrofitting once’ 
• How policies, practices and grant funding opportunities differ between tenures, and what finance is available for retrofit

Guest website: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-mason-29a5a9164/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

The Return: Property & Investment Podcast has been featured in Feedspot’s UK and London ‘Best Real Estate Podcasts’ lists, coming in at #4 in the UK! 

⁠https://podcasts.feedspot.com/uk_real_estate_podcasts/⁠

⁠https://blog.feedspot.com/london_real_estate_podcasts/⁠

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Is now the time to upsize? 

Anna Clare Harper discusses with Polly Ogden Duffy, MD at John D Wood & Co.

In Anna's words:

I had a great chat with Polly Ogden Duffy, Managing Director at prime sales and lettings agency, John D Wood & Co.

We covered:

• How to achieve your buying, selling or renting goals in the current market 
• How upsizers are winning in 2023
• What has caused the time taken to complete a sale to double since 2019
• How establishing pregnancy loss and menopause policies - as well as being vocal about such real staff issues - improves staff loyalty and so boosts long term profitability

Guest website: https://www.johndwood.co.uk

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/polly-ogden-duffy-17070651/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

The Return: Property & Investment Podcast has been featured in Feedspot’s UK and London ‘Best Real Estate Podcasts’ lists, coming in at #4 in the UK! 

⁠https://podcasts.feedspot.com/uk_real_estate_podcasts/⁠

⁠https://blog.feedspot.com/london_real_estate_podcasts/⁠

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How to become a fund manager, and what are the greatest opportunities for institutional real estate investment? With Imogen Ebbs, Head of UK Real Estate Funds at Aviva Investors and Anna Clare Harper.

In Anna's words:

I had the chance to chat with Imogen Ebbs, Head of UK Real Estate Funds at £223bn asset manager Aviva Investors, on the podcast. 

We covered:

• How to become a fund manager, and how Aviva Investors are helping the next generation of fund managers onto the ladder
• What ‘good’ looks like in the current market, and how this has changed - including macroeconomic factors, pricing, microeconomics and ESG
• The most exciting emerging investment strategies (spoiler alert: lots in ‘living’!) and the death of the commercial property ‘40/40/20’ allocation strategy
• Why reporting is so important, and how data collection and impact possibilities define what is investible 

Guest website: https://www.avivainvestors.com

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imogen-ebbs-37136262/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

The Return: Property & Investment Podcast has been featured in Feedspot’s UK and London ‘Best Real Estate Podcasts’ lists, coming in at #4 in the UK! 

⁠https://podcasts.feedspot.com/uk_real_estate_podcasts/⁠

⁠https://blog.feedspot.com/london_real_estate_podcasts/⁠

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What does scrapping EPC targets mean for residential? 

Rod Turner x Anna Clare Harper, CEO of GreenResi.

In Anna's words:

In this episode I share my thoughts on the scrapping of proposed Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards of EPC C+ for properties to be legally rented out. 

The tables were turned and I joined Rod Turner on his Property Business Investment ‘Rodcast’ in my capacity as CEO of GreenResi, which helps residential investors with portfolios worth £100m+ to make efficient, reliable buy, sell and upgrade decisions at scale, so that they can future proof and grow portfolios in the context of the urgent need to retrofit homes.

We covered topics including 

• Why scrapping planned MEES is likely to be positive for the Private Rental Sector, its renters and the environment 
• Why our clients, institutional investors, were and are self-regulating, and targeting better than the ex-proposed minimum EPC of C
• What other policies would work better than MEES, such as using Council Tax to incentivise upgrades.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Guidance: https://bpf.org.uk/media/4534/bpf-residential-esg-guidance.pdf

Listen to The Rodcast: https://www.podpage.com/the-rodcast-property-business-investment/

Rod Turner Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rod-turner-936a837/

Anna Clare Harper LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

GreenResi website: https://www.greenresi.com/

The Return: Property & Investment Podcast has been featured in Feedspot’s UK and London ‘Best Real Estate Podcasts’ lists, coming in at #4 in the UK! 

https://podcasts.feedspot.com/uk_real_estate_podcasts/

https://blog.feedspot.com/london_real_estate_podcasts/

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Avinash Rajan, Proposition Director for TrustMark, the UK Government-Endorsed Quality Scheme for home improvements and Anna Clare Harper discuss 'How to protect consumers and innovate for Net Zero'.

In Anna's words:

I had the chance to chat with Avinash Rajan, Proposition Director for TrustMark, the UK Government-Endorsed Quality Scheme for home improvements, and an organisation that is critical for the urgent retrofit of UK homes.

We covered:

• Innovations and policy changes in home comfort and the path to Net Zero 
• How to ensure quality delivery and protect consumers
• How to adapt your retrofit approach when policy objectives conflict, for example when changing from gas to electric brings down Energy Performance Certificate grades

Guest website: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowner

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinashrajan/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

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Anna Clare Harper talked to Carl Jabbour, Head of Investors and COO of £1bn+ bridging lender Fiduciam about what next for real estate non-bank lending, and how Family Offices protect their wealth in an inflationary environment.

In Anna's words:

I had a great, very informative chat with Carl Jabbour, Head of Investors and COO of £1bn+ property and SME  lender Fiduciam, for the podcast. 

We talked about: 

• Why family offices and institutional investors are so keen to lend, and the non-cyclical growth of non-bank lending
• How macroeconomic shifts like high inflation, high interest rates and low economic growth/confidence define what works for Family Offices and institutional investors
• Why lenders are swallowing profit margin in the face of higher base rates, and what distinguishes lenders who will survive, thrive or fold in the 2020s

Guest website: https://fiduciam.co.uk/

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-jabbour/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

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Emma Fletcher, Homes Director for Octopus Energy joins Anna Clare Harper for this episode on Octopus Energy, Zero Bills, Technology + Green Innovation.

In Anna's words:

I chatted to Emma Fletcher, Homes Director at Octopus Energy, the UK's most awarded energy supplier. Emma is also a renewable energy pioneer herself, having led the UK’s first green district heating system, which we have talked about in past episodes.

In this episode, we talked about:

• Using technology and innovation bridge the gap between traditional housing infrastructure and the demands of a more environmentally conscious society
• Pioneering products like ‘Zero Bills’ - where customers with solar, heatpumps, batteries and smart meters pay £0 for five years 
• Testing then rolling out innovations to support energy transition across housing developments 

Guest website: https://octopus.energy/

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmafletchercambridge/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

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Anna Clare Harper talks Humans, real estate and finance with Ray Rafiq, serial founder including of Unmortgage, which became Wayhome.

In Anna's words:

I chatted to Rayhan Rafiq, serial founder including of Unmortgage, which became Wayhome - a ground-breaking institutionally-backed shared ownership scheme for aspiring owners of existing homes letting people buy as little as 5% of a home and rent the rest.

We talked about ‘the human side of business’, including:

• What key performance indicators ‘customer-centric’ businesses really need
• Building trust and rapport in low trust, emotionally-charged industries
• People, politics and the risks of poor communication 
• Social impact, diversity and inclusion and how to change the disappointing talk/change ratio in real estate and finance - featuring lessons from Barbie
• Leaning into human-only capabilities through the rise of AI

Guest website: https://www.wayhome.co.uk/

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray5d/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: greenresi.com

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Training 200,000 retrofitters by 2030 with David Pierpoint, Co-Founder and CEO of The Retrofit Academy and Anna Clare Harper.

In Anna's words:

I chatted with David Pierpoint, CEO of The Retrofit Academy, the leading retrofit skills training provider on a special podcast demystifying retrofit standards, certifications and training.

Highlights include:

• How PAS 2035 emerged, and why it’s so important
• The relationship between PAS 2035, ECO4 and EPC recommendations
• Maintaining quality in a race against time
• The Retrofit Rap

Guest website: https://retrofitacademy.org/

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pierpoint-8044405/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

Host website: greenresi.com