The news marks a significant step for the SRS in the UK, and in promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting across the social housing sector in Northern Ireland through the UK’s recognised standard for the social housing sector.

The Housing Executive is the strategic housing authority for Northern Ireland and one of the UK’s largest social landlords. The Housing Executive manages c.84,000 social homes and oversees social housing development, homelessness services, housing support services and more.

As part of the Housing Executive’s sustainability journey, it aims to improve energy efficiency by 34% over 10 years, reducing domestic energy consumption while maintaining comfort levels.

Its Sustainable Development Strategy outlines key goals, including cutting CO2 emissions by 25,000 tonnes by 2025/26 and retrofitting homes to an average SAP Band C rating by 2030. The organisation is also trialling electric vehicles and has trained over 1,800 staff in carbon literacy.

Launched in 2020, the SRS has become the go-to framework for housing providers to report on their ESG performance in a transparent, consistent and comparable way. It now has a community of 170 Adopters, including 132 housing providers with close to 2.4 million homes across the UK, and 38 funders that provide almost all the c£133bn of private finance to the sector. It also has 36 endorsers from across the housing sector.

It works in the interests of the sector, enabling hundreds of housing providers to speak with one voice, driving better ESG performance and outcomes, and serving as the gateway to a new era of financial reporting and global sustainability requirements.

Piers Williamson, chair of Sustainability for Housing, said: “As one of the largest landlords in the UK and a leader in retrofit and social standards, we are delighted that the Housing Executive has committed to the SRS. Their adoption underscores the importance of transparent and consistent ESG reporting in the sector. By aligning with this framework, the Housing Executive is taking a leadership role in Northern Ireland in embedding ESG at the core of its operations, benefiting residents, investors, and the wider community.”

Grainia Long, the Housing Executive’s chief executive, said: “As Northern Ireland’s largest landlord and Strategic Housing Authority we are delighted to become an Adopter of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing.

“We are committed to supporting householders by improving our environmental, social and governance impact. Participating in the Standard gives us the great opportunity to track our progress in key areas including affordability, carbon emissions and energy efficiency.”

The SRS enables housing organisations to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices while improving access to responsible investment.

It is now in its second iteration, mapped to the Sustainable Development Goals and designed to align with several sustainability and climate-risk related financial frameworks and standards.