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At a well-attended conference of the European Federation for Living in Dublin, RITTERWALD, consultant of choice for the affordable housing industry in Europe, has granted the newly developed Certified Sustainable Housing Label to Gewobag (Berlin, 65,000 units), Clarion (London 125,000 units) and Vilogia (Paris/Lille, 71,000 units). It is the first certified methodology to measure the positive impact of affordable housing companies in social and green dimensions. The Certified Sustainable Housing Label provides housing companies with the opportunity to raise awareness for sustainability in their companies and benchmark themselves towards peers across Europe. Moreover, it highlights the signficant sustainability impact undertaken by affordable housing companies to the capital markets and helps access to a wide range of impact investors.

In cooperation with the European housing and impact financing community, RITTERWALD has developed the Certified Sustainable Housing Label, covering more than 30 social and green measurable indicators. The label is based on UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and with Green Bond Principles and Social Bond Principles, the market standard issued by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). In cooperation with Second Party Opinion provider ‘imug rating’, the advanced methodology was refined and finalized. Subsequently, all three housing companies were evaluated on the basis of the certification process whereby imug as an independent company monitored compliance with the standards.

The forerunners recommend the label to their peers across Europe. Rob Lane, Group Commercial Services Director for Clarion Housing Group said: “As the UK’s largest affordable housing provider, creating truly sustainable communities where people can thrive is at the core of our mission. By following these internationally recognised standards we will be better informed about the impacts our activities have on the communities we serve.”

According to Gewobag’s CEO Markus Terboven: “This label will provide our lenders with more comfort and aligns very well with our recently published corporate sustainability report”.

Also Vilogia sees the label as enrichment of its sustainability strategy and Director of Finance Stéphane Ganeman-Valot noted: “We will start using the label in attracting long term financing for our housing schemes”.

Amsterdam-based Ymere (70.000 homes) is expected to be granted the label later this year. And RITTERWALD expects more to follow.

Market share of bonds in affordable housing finance is growing. Across Europe one can notice a fast growing demand in green and social bonds, a good match with the affordable housing industry. The certification process has been verified by the renowned second party opinion provider ’imug rating’, which provides comfort in financial markets.

The label certification process is available for housing companies of all sizes and legal forms in a wide range of European countries. The label certification process takes approx. 4 to 6 months and relies on the availability of data and internal capacities.

About RITTERWALD:

Consultant of choice for the affordable housing industry in Europe. With offices in Berlin, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, RITTERWALD provides strategy consulting, finance and urban development services. With an excellent professional network and extensive market knowledge, we serve from 80.000+ housing companies to midsized housing cooperatives as well as regional and local authorities and public private partnerships.

For more information about the label holders please contact:

Gewobag (Berlin):
Anne Grubert (Spokeswoman), a.grubert@gewobag.de, T +49 30 47081535

Clarion (London):
Simon Mundell (Communications Manager), simon.mundell@clarionhg.com, T +44 20 37843734
Information about the implementation on the Clarion website

Vilogia (Paris/Lille):
David Loy (Director Communications), communication@vilogia.fr, T +33 3 59355000

More information about certified sustainable housing

Please visit www.sustainable-housing.eu