The government’s Social Value Act arguably flew under the radar when it was first tabled in 2012. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) was still a relatively new acronym to the private sector and poorly understood, not least in real estate, which was still getting to grips with the ‘E’ and its implications. 

Fast forward ten years, and social value is integral to the way we masterplan, design, and build new communities. There are still issues that we need to smooth out and how we assess or calculate social value is still a bone of contention