Peabody receives three outstanding RITTERWALD rankings showing it’s serious about sustainability

Peabody has improved its sustainability credentials, receiving the top ranking of ‘frontrunner’ status in all three categories of RITTERWALD’s Certified Sustainable Housing Label.

Published: 20/02/2025

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Awarding the certification for the third year running, RITTERWALD praised our commitment to improving sustainability and working to embed it throughout the organisation. This top ranking helps show we’re serious about sustainability, and together with our Sustainable Finance Framework, supports funding for new projects and encourages new partners to work with us. 

“Over the last years, Peabody has enhanced its ESG credentials and has now reached the best ranking of frontrunner in all three ESG dimensions,” said Ad Hereijgers, RITTERWALD’s Director of Business Development and Sustainability Lead. 

“This shows the Board’s leadership in valuing ESG for its staff, tenants, suppliers, and wider stakeholder community. Thumbs up for Peabody’s sustainability team for the dedicated and major efforts in compiling the required high quality ESG data.”

To achieve the accreditation, we went through a rigorous process, including being assessed against ESG metrics aligned with the UK’s Sustainable Reporting Standard and a materiality analysis which looked at the potential impact of sustainability and ESG issues on the organisation. The label is recognised by companies and investors across Europe and helps ratify and benchmark our sustainability performance and ESG credentials. 

We received a special score for our commitment to improving environmental sustainability, with the RITTERWALD panel praising the 58-home sustainable living scheme at Fenny Road in Buckinghamshire. There, we’re using innovative data management technologies, including heat pump performance monitoring and CO2 sensors to reduce the environmental footprint of the development and help reduce energy costs for residents.

The panel also looked at our partnership with Kestrix and United Living Property Services to develop cutting-edge thermal imaging software that means heat-loss surveys can be done remotely using AI and cameras fitted to drones. In the year to the end of March 2024, nearly 80 percent of residents’ homes had an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C or above. We need to improve this further to reach our net zero goal.

RITTERWALD commended the way we’re adapting to climate change by installing green roofs and solar panels on new developments, such as at Powell Road, Hackney. The panel also looked at biodiversity improvements and our water management programme and said we’re ahead of our peers in the areas of decarbonisation, local electricity production, creating sustainable living environments and resource consumption.  

“It’s really encouraging to see our collective efforts to embed sustainability across the organisation being recognised,” said Richard Ellis, Director of Sustainability.

“RITTERWALD highlighted our clear targets, and with those deadlines fast approaching, we must keep up the momentum. There is so much more to do, but by staying focused, we can make real progress towards achieving net zero by 2050.”

In the social category, RITTERWALD focused on affordability and resident wellbeing, saying that our wide range of tenancy types sets us apart from our peers. It commended our tenant wellbeing and support offerings, having examined the important role the elderly resident hubs at Darwin Court in Southwark and the Sundial Centre in Tower Hamlets play in fostering a sense of community and helping prevent loneliness. 

RITTERWALD also said we’re ahead of our peers in creating sustainable living environments, citing things like improving play spaces on estates in Islington and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and creating a sensory garden for adults with learning disabilities in Barnsbury Park, Islington.   

In the year to the end of March 2024, we invested £10m in local communities, providing financial and wellbeing support, academic classes and opening two new community centres. We also generated £12.7m worth of benefits for residents from our suppliers and contractors through a new social value clause in our procurement process that helps ensure we work with like-minded organisations.

In governance, the panel praised our sustainability targets, but said we needed a clearer transition plan with agreed responsibilities. RITTERWALD commended our progress on climate risk assessments and acknowledged that we’re developing sustainable procurement policies for water and materials.

After considering our EDI Strategy, including our wide range of inclusive colleague networks and awareness days and policies for inclusive recruitment, the panel said that in the areas of working conditions and tenant information and representation we’re in line with our peers.