Delivering the new normal: putting the heart into real estate

If you had said, not too long ago, that property should be kind, compassionate and respectful, you might have been met with a few confused looks, and even a few chuckles. After all, the industry isn’t exactly known for its altruistic qualities, so why fight the stereotype? But over the past few years, the industry has started to change its mindset. And over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shook the world and changed even the most basic ways in which we live and work, property has shown exactly how kind, compassionate and respectful it can be in times of need. Property industry charity LandAid is aiming to raise £1m in emergency funding to support young homeless people and charities during the pandemic, Capital & Centric and Kamani Property have set up a Covid-19 emergency supplies depot at their unoccupied Northern Quarter building, and CBRE’s call out for unoccupied property to be used by the NHS during the pandemic has been “overwhelming”, according to the agent. During a period of darkness for many, property has shown exactly what it is capable of, playing an important role in putting people before profit. It is this kind, compassionate and respectful mentality that speakers taking part in EG’s Sustainability Live panel on how to plan for a more positive future said property companies should maintain post-Covid-19, and use these skills to advance the sustainability agenda. Lessons from property’s “heartwarming” response Better Buildings Partnership chief executive Sarah Ratcliffe says the industry should learn from its response to Covid-19 and apply its approach moving forward post-lockdown. “It’s been incredibly heart-warming to see the response from the property industry to this crisis, whether it’s been rebuilding hospitals, repurposing space or supporting communities,” says Ratcliffe. “What the crisis has done has helped to re-examine the purpose of those [property] businesses, the role they play in society, and how we should reshape that going forward.” Ratcliffe says that we need to apply the same level of urgency we have seen in global responses to the Covid-19 pandemic to addressing the climate change emergency. “Covid-19 represents an immediate crisis, but we have a number of crises happening on a global level to which we need the same level of response,” she says. “Part of maintaining momentum is about really clearly and urgently acknowledging those other crises which are occurring, and of course one of those crises is climate change.” Evora Global director Philippa Gill agrees. She says that coronavirus should accelerate the industry’s green agenda. “We’ve had to train ourselves to think about future risk, and as we’ve just seen right now, future risk is anything that we can’t see immediately,” she says. “That’s why we’ve been able to respond so quickly and in most cases so well, but we still struggle because we’re not naturally designed to deal with something which is on the horizon. So, it’s encouraging to see these net zero carbon commitments starting to happen, and people working out how to do that. We haven’t seen any slowdown in that activity.” Post-lockdown world The industry has played an important role in supporting the country through lockdown. But it has an even greater part to play in ensuring the places that we will be returning to when government restrictions have lifted are places where we feel safe, says Ratcliffe. “One of the things that has been really interesting about the Covid-19 crisis is that a momentum has been established around a common goal, which is effectively securing the health and wellbeing of individuals,” she explains. “Buildings have a really important role to play in health and wellbeing. We need to maintain the momentum by ensuring buildings are being seen as a haven of health and wellbeing for the people within them, whether that’s improving the quality of our homes, our work environment, or the places where we go.” To do this there needs to be a shift in design to focus much more clearly on how people interact with buildings, says Ratcliffe. For both Gill and Ratcliffe, real estate has the opportunity to create a new normal out of this crisis. An opportunity to re-examine its purpose. Ratcliffe sums it up. “We should not go back to business as usual as a result of what’s happened,” she says. “We should definitely try and focus on rebuilding in a different way.” And that way, she says, is putting the values of compassion, kindness and respect at the centre of business in the new normal. Panel Sarah Ratcliffe, chief executive, Better Buildings Partnership Philippa Gill, director, Evora Global To send feedback, e-mail lucy.alderson@egi.co.uk or tweet @LucyAJourno or @estatesgazette