Investor support

Perceived barrier to sustainable homes: Investors aren't interested in sustainability, they want a quick return and maximum profits.

Increasingly, institutional investors are concerned about demonstrating their sense of corporate responsibility as well as optimising returns on their investments.

In partnership with Insight Investment, the asset management arm of HBOS plc, WWF benchmarked the sustainability performance of the top 13 FTSE-listed house-builders. The report, Building Towards Sustainability: performance and progress among the UK's leading house-builders, demonstrated that the majority of the house-builders are failing to address their sustainability impacts adequately.

"I welcome this report as I believe it will be an important tool in the development and mainstreaming of sustainable communities. It will provide a useful insight into how far house-builders are already incorporating sustainability into their work. I hope it will also assist them in recognising which aspects of sustainability they are not, but should, be considering if they are to remain at the forefront of today's market."
Rt Hon John Prescott MP, Deputy Prime Minister

The response from house-builders to the benchmarking report has been very positive, with many reviewing their business practices as a direct result of our findings and subsequent discussions with them.

"The report has certainly driven home to us that having in place the right reporting and environmental performance systems is of increasing importance to our stakeholders and that performance and outputs which are not measured by those systems do not count, to all intents and purposes."
Group Secretary, Barratt Developments PLC

WWF and HBOS are also discussing opportunities to create market-based incentives for the development of sustainable homes.

"In June 2003, HBOS created a working group made up of specialists from across the business who will offer their technical expertise to the OMSH campaign. HBOS hopes that its involvement in OMSH will not only make a significant contribution to WWF's campaign to mainstream sustainable homes, but that the Group will also be able to build a strong understanding of the business implications of a move towards more sustainable housing."
Phil Hodkinson, Chief Executive Insurance and Investment Division, HBOS.

The benchmarking study will be repeated in spring 2005, and WWF looks forward to other investors using the results when making investment decisions.

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