ESG will come to the fore

Last year’s constantly changing circumstances saw us start the year working from home and home-schooling, before the spring came and we were able to embrace the opportunity to get back to seeing people in person and enjoy community events and activities again. All of which only served to reinforce the need for high quality urban mixed-use developments. Below are our predictions for the coming year…

ESG will come to the fore

“In 2022, the ability to walk, cycle or scoot around your ’15-minute city’ is going to be more important than ever!” explains Managing Director of Socius Development Limited, Barry Jessup. “The myth of the ‘death of the office’ has been replaced by a genuine realisation that a lot of the current office stock is effectively obsolete and that occupiers are no longer prepared, and nor should they be, to put up with poor sustainability credentials.”

“This will be the year when the ‘S’ and ‘G’ of ESG come further to the fore and this will have a direct impact on the way we think about real estate and respond to office occupier requirements.

“We predict that Build-To-Rent investors will follow their office counterparts and demand more sustainable products as they anticipate their future resident requirements.” Barry says.

Sustainably-focused developers will seek to retain, refurbish and extend heritage developments, instead of taking the easier route of old, and demolishing existing buildings in order to provide modern office space, community realms, accessible workshop and maker space, and places suitable for local independent food, drink, leisure and retail.

Rejuvenation of our High Streets

Further to this, Barry commented: “We hope that this year will see the continued rejuvenation of our High Streets, as we increasingly replace the out-dated big box retail and oversized car parks with a more interesting mix of uses and experiences, and once again encourage broader human and business interaction by reintroducing homes and flexible workspace into our town centres.”

Our focus for 2022 is on high quality urban mixed-use developments, debunking the myth of the ‘death of the office’, ESG - not just talking the talk; walking the walk, delivering social impact, B-Corp - making this real throughout everything that we do and enabling interactions between business, academia and communities.