Build to Rent membership body UKAA (the UK Apartment Association) has announced the creation of a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee.
Expressions of interest in joining the eight-person committee are being sought from people with standout ideas about EDI and the bandwidth to take an active role in making change happen.
UKAA has already taken a leading role in raising awareness of EDI matters in the Build to Rent sector, making it a core objective of the 2023 Manifesto and through the initial UKAA/Swift Bunny Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Benchmarking Snapshot in spring 2022 and an expanded follow up survey published in January 2023.
The survey examined 15 areas of EDI within the Build to Rent sector, looking at both differences and correlations in perception between employees and executives.
Now, the new UKAA Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee will take that work forward and build on it with a range of robust ideas and initiatives.
Brendan Geraghty, CEO, UKAA, said: “A strong commitment to EDI can bring direct operational and fiscal benefits, as well as simply being the right way forward. Our surveys last year shone a spotlight on EDI in Build to Rent. Now it’s time to take that work to the next level by enhancing understanding of EDI within the sector and implementing a range of improvement ideas.”
Expressions of interest from middle managers from back-office teams, property teams, HR teams, leasing teams and others are all sought by 18 September 2023, with a focus on those who are passionate about providing views on EDI, ideas, and new solutions. The aim is to establish a dynamic, active group that is committed to effecting real change.
The group will be led by Stephanie Smith of Hubbl and Kevin Redman of Oyster Partnership. They will work with UKAA senior leaders to select the EDI Committee members, with the group meeting for the first time in early October 2023 to agree its scope and priorities.
The committee will then be formally introduced at the UKAA Annual BTR Conference and Awards on 2nd November 2023.
