Socially Responsible Property Investment (Srpi): A Review Of Uk Investment Practices

The realisation that the methods employed and decisions made by property investors can have negative social and environmental consequences has led some to call for the principles of ëSocially Responsible Investmentí (SRI) developed in equities investment, to be applied to property. However, the extent to which property investment managers have responded to this call remains unclear, as are the methods which will need to be employed to make property investment more socially responsible. This paper addresses the current lack of theory in this area by reviewing progress towards socially responsible ëpropertyí investment (SRPI) in the commercial property investment practices of the ten largest UK property investment managers. The paper uses publicly available company literature (e.g. company financial reports, CSR reports, web pages) to understand the SRI policies, practices and products of each companyís equities investments, in order to understand current methods used and identify possible ëbest practiceí examples. It then uses the findings to carry out a similar appraisal of their property investments, while also looking for any property-specific activities which might reduce the negative impacts associated with the property investment process. The paper uses original methodology to group SRI/SRPI activities into ëmilestonesí against which inter and intra-company comparisons could be made and best practice models identified. Findings show differing levels of progress towards SRI and SRPI and a lack of intra-company association between progress in the two areas. Though specific SRPI products are found to be scarce in comparison to those available in equities SRI, other activities are identified which may help address the impacts associated with property investment, and it is argued, should be considered as progress towards SRPI.