Valuing sustainable change in the built environment : using SuROI to appraise built environment projects

Higham, AP; Barlow, C; Bichard, E; Richards, A

Abstract

Purpose – The paper aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses SuROI to determine it suitability as a means through which social value can be predicted in line with public procurement directives and the Social Value Act, whilst at the same time as fitting the developer’s business model and CSR commitments.
Design/methodology/approach – Using a multi case design, findings from a comprehensive evaluation of three major housing-led mixed use regeneration developments are presented. The tree case study locations were selected on the basis of the developer’s strong commitment to place-making and social sustainability. Together with a strong strategic desire to reposition their organisation away from the traditional business as usual profit led model.
Findings - Whilst the Social Return on Investment methodology is applicable to the charity sector, its use in the built environment is highly questionable. When applying the model to the mixed use housing projects the authors identified a number of technical limitations to the model, inter alia a lack of suitable proxies and especially proxies relating to the built environment for the valuation of identified outcomes, the use of monetisation as a evaluating measure which did not support some of the more abstract or softer benefits identified, problems collecting, identifying and evaluating data to inform the model given the complexity and scale of the project, the significant time and expense associated with the valuation and finally the inability to benchmark the report on completion. These findings have implications for the social housing providers and local authorities looking to use SuROI to evaluate potential built environment projects.
Originality/value – The paper offers unique insights into the viability of using existing social value measurement methodologies. The paper identifies the significant limitations associated with the SuROI methodology.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 16, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Sep 28, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 2, 2018
• Deposit Date: May 15, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 1, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Facilities Management
• Print ISSN: 1472-5967
• Publisher: Emerald
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 315-353
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JFM-11-2016-0044
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1108/JFM-11-2016-0044
• Related Public URLs: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/jfm