UK Reit, Landsec, plans to invest capitlal through four new programmes aiming to create a ‘fairer, more equitable real estate industry’ so it better reflects the communities it invests in.
The company stated the £20 mln (€22 mln) Landsec Futures fund would deliver ‘£200 mln worth of social value by 2030’ – 10 times the investment.
It believes four programmes could do this. The first is a bi-annual paid 6 month work experience spot in a Landsec department of the choosing of 8 successful applicants. Landsec Futures internships, as it dubbed, has been developed in line with the UK Social Mobility Commission Toolkit, the company said.
Secondly, investment will be made for real estate bursaries for at least five students from lower socio-economic backgrounds of up to £30,000. The bursaries will be available to students undertaking property-related courses or qualifications at university.
Thirdly, Landsec said it wanted to ‘evolve’ is approach to education and employment partnerships.
Lastly, it is introducing a new unrestricted grants programme for charities local to the places where it invests, to increase funding for the most pressing social and economic challenges its communities are facing.
That is being administered in partnership with Charities Aid Foundation, with grants ranging from £1,000 to £3,000, and can be used for supporting not-for-profit organisations’ day-to-day work.
Landsec said: ‘The real estate industry is a significant employer in the UK, contributing over £94 bn to the national economy. While it’s made up of a wide mix of occupations, the industry’s workforce is lacking diversity, significantly in socio-economic background. An industry study found that nearly half (45%) of real estate employees attended an independent or selective state school.’
‘Landsec Futures addresses this need for greater representation in the real estate industry by investing in four new social impact programmes.’
The company says that between 2020 and 2022, it had supported over 4,500 individuals facing barriers towards employment to enter the world of work and has delivered £20 million in social value. The programmes announced today will build on this to shape an industry which maximises the potential of people, places and communities.
Jennie Colville, Head of ESG and Sustainability at Landsec, said: ‘Despite greater focus on diversity in recent years, we know the real estate industry is not where it needs to be if we want to create more inclusive, sustainable, and successful places that support people and businesses to thrive. We need our industry to include a more diverse representation of people from all walks of life, empowering them to lead change in the places they know the best.’
‘In addition to the programmes committed to today, we’ll be collecting data on the socio-economic backgrounds of our existing and future employees at Landsec as part of our new diversity and inclusion strategy. This will help us better measure the impact of our actions today and create an industry where everyone can fulfil their potential.’
