When developers, Legal & General Property approached the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham with a proposal to redevelop a large property, the combined parties wanted a question answered: “Would focusing on social value give the local community better outcomes than was usually the case?”.
In the case of Legal & General Property’s £100 million project, 245 Hammersmith Road, the S106 (the scheme’s development levy) contribution was set at £1 million. The team worked with Social Value Portal to examine if there were benefits to the new approach for those involved including the people of Hammersmith.
Results showed that using social value as a means of assessing community contribution could deliver an additional £100 million over 10 years of occupation – and more than £300 million over a 30-year period – all at no additional capital cost. The process would be more collaborative and less confrontational, and the benefits to the community would be delivered over a longer period.
Significant additional value may be unlocked for the community by looking beyond S106 and focusing on social outcomes and that additional social value is generated through every stage of the building lifecycle through the choices made about materials sourcing, employment decisions, environmental considerations, building management solutions and corporate social responsibility programmes.
The building management team has a significant role to play in maximising the delivery of community benefits both in how they award ongoing service contracts and in how they support occupiers when the latter comes to focusing their corporate social responsibility activities in the area.
This case study shows that without appropriate intervention, a huge amount of social value and community benefits arising as a result of the development would have remained unaccounted for or missed due to a lack of understanding in both how value is created and measured.
