Real estate investors say they will accept lower returns to deliver social impact, but only when they can trust the data behind it. Research for EPRA by Maastricht University found managers willing to forego 123 basis points of projected return to improve tenant...
Real Estate
Read through our thought-provoking articles for inspiration, or see what’s new with social impact trends and news
Thrive launches Real Estate Metrics to help firms evidence social value
New pack adds 19 place-based metrics to Thrive’s proprietary Impact Evaluation Standard, tailored to the realities of real estate Launch comes as 76% of property investors consider social value in decision-making but more than half lack a framework to measure it...
How NewRiver REIT built investor-ready social impact evidence
NewRiver REIT knew its shopping centres created real social value in their communities. What it lacked was a way to measure that impact with the same discipline it brings to its financial and environmental reporting. Here is how the retail REIT built a defensible...
Social Impact and Real Asset Returns: What the Board Needs to Know
Real assets firms are under growing pressure to demonstrate the social impact of their investments. The question for boards and investment committees is no longer whether to invest, but whether that investment is producing returns you can measure, report, and defend...
From GDP to General Wellbeing: What the Wellbeing Economy Means for Real Estate
Real estate and infrastructure investment is judged largely on financial returns, with social and environmental factors usually treated as ESG add-ons. A growing body of work argues that the way we measure value itself is a problem. At UKREiiF 2026, a panel chaired by...
Delivering Joined-Up Impact Across the Asset Lifecycle at UKREiiF
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes Real estate social impact measurement is usually broken into design, planning, construction and in-use phases. Along that journey, it is passed between owners, contractors, architects, occupiers and local authorities, each with their...
Social Impact ROI for Real Assets: Why the Numbers Matter
Estimated reading time: 17 minutes Key Takeaways Social impact is becoming a measurable factor in real asset performance. For investors, asset managers, and ESG leads across real estate and infrastructure, the question is no longer whether social impact (or social...
“Social Value is a Canvas to Paint on” for Real Estate
by Cleo Folkes John Badman of Gensler said something that really struck me at the recent Association for Rental Living workshop on social value benchmarking and methodology that I ran in March. We were discussing BTR, but when John said that delivering social value...
Real Estate’s Social Value (R) Evolution
I haven’t had such a packed week since I joined Thrive as Lead Consultant for Real Assets last year! In the final days of March I: ● Ran a workshop with the Association for Rental Living on social value benchmarking and methodology (26/3/25) ● ...
Social Value in Real Estate: 5 Ways to Get Started or Improve
The real estate sector is getting better at sustainability, thanks to a growing emphasis on energy efficiency and environmental concerns. But the “S” in ESG – the social value of an asset or project – is lagging behind. Yet social value is becoming increasingly...









