EDITOR’S COMMENT “Do something small where you can. Something modest. It doesn’t have to change the world. It just has to change one life at a time.”
I wish they were my words, but they are the words of Elsie Owusu, founder of the Society of Black Architects. Words that I was reminded of this week as I struggled to boil down into a circa 800-word article the phenomenal conversation I got to listen in to on the importance of and the challenges surrounding ethnicity pay gap reporting (turn to p23 to see how I did).
That conversation was hosted by BAME in Property founder Priya Shah and delivered so many very wonderful and thought-provoking insights into the changing nature of the business of real estate.
It was a conversation in which uncomfortable truths were talked about openly. A conversation in which it was made very clear that huge inequalities exist in the world of real estate. That in this wonderful people industry in which we work, sometimes (often, probably), it won’t be talent alone that boosts you up the career (and pay) ladder; it will be whether you, your face, your upbringing, your gender and the colour of your skin, fit.
That is an uncomfortable truth. But it is the truth, and it is time that we admitted it. This week, however, I am encouraged that we are starting to do just that.
On Monday, I chaired a debate for CBRE as part of its diversity month. It’s a debate I’ve chaired for a couple of years now and it is always insightful. CBRE invites JLL and Cushman & Wakefield, its competitors, to have an open and honest conversation around diversity and inclusion.
Hats off to Ciaran Bird, Chris Ireland and George Roberts for never shying away from a question. From the very first time I chaired this debate, these three guys have been open enough to admit that real estate – and their own firms – has a D&I problem. But this year it somehow felt more authentic. It felt like these leaders (and others too) are increasingly opening themselves up to critique and not just empowering, but encouraging, their employees to tell them where they are getting it wrong. They are holding the mirror up to themselves and admitting that sometimes they don’t like what they see.
And I think that reflection is leading to major change in the real estate sector. Could any of us have imagined a private equity fund seeking to launch a REIT aimed at alleviating homelessness at any time in the near past? I couldn’t.
Alvarium’s plans to raise £250m by floating Home REIT on the London Stock Exchange could (and I’d argue, should) be a game changer for ethical and impact investing in the real estate sector. If the IPO is successful, this is cold, hard business evidence that investors care and want to use real estate as a solution to some of the most fundamental problems society faces. If the IPO flies, this is a bright and powerful green light for real estate businesses to put purpose on a par with profit, rather than just pay lip service to it.
But even if the float isn’t a resounding success, the very fact that Alvarium has held the mirror up and seen that real estate can actually offer a solution to a problem rather than contribute to one, signals that the time of only good endeavours is coming to an end.
The time now is for hard actions. Big or small. The time now is for real change. One life, or many, at a time.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
