As a long-term investor in the built environment, IPUT Real Estate is committed to understanding social impact and how economic, environmental, and cultural initiatives shape the neighbourhoods and cities in which we are invested.

In 2020, we challenged conventional thinking with the launch of our ‘Making Place’ research report. ‘Making Place’ helped evolve our thinking to see each of our developments as an opportunity to draw people together. We want to invest in social good, to create interesting neighbourhoods that are vibrant and full of vitality and creativity. We also believe that our focus on impact will enhance the value of our assets and underpin strong, long-term returns for shareholders.

‘Making Impact’ is the next step in our thought leadership programme. Together with three leading design experts, Hassell, PRD, and Gehl, we are using our Wilton Park development as a live case study. As part of our first year’s work, we have devised a methodology to evaluate the impact of investment in the public realm which we will use as the basis for our research in the years ahead. This work is more ambitious than anything we have done before and will provide a benchmark and methodology for the measurement of impact investing in the real estate sector.

The report sets out our conclusions at the end of year one. It is early in the process, but we are excited to continue this research in the years ahead and share our findings with our stakeholders and the wider industry.