Reconciling the economic and the social? The question is on the agenda of companies at a time when real concerns are being expressed about their risk of economic and social downgrading through the Yellow Vests movement.
The father Bernard Devert, founder ofHabitat and Humanism, reminded this week, on the occasion of the presentation of the first real estate fund “Impact Investing”, that it is “good that the financial world does not lose sight of the poverty that surrounds it”. In 30 years, this former developer has housed some 30,000 people, succeeding on his own scale in the tremendous mission he has set himself to reconcile human and urban life.
Let's be clear. This is not about philanthropy or tricks to get a good conscience, but about creating value and sharing it more accurately. The longevity of the Yellow Vests movement in France, the spread of populist themes all over Western economies, sound like an agony of the welfare state. The solutions are no longer in the hands of politicians alone. They fall squarely into the responsibility of private actors. At the forefront of which are those in the real estate industry and the city's factories.
Several initiatives unveiled this week serve as a reminder of the urgency of this situation. The launch of the first “Impact Investing” real estate fund by Cedrus Partners and Swiss Life Reim shows not only that economic imperatives can no longer be separated from social challenges, but above all that they can be combined. Admittedly, the immediate return is more modest, but there is no indication that the overall performance will be penalized over time.
The same week, Medef announced a vast investment plan to boost 1% housing. An employers' initiative, it should be remembered, co-managed with the unions, whose coffers the State has always wanted to siphon off. Reorganized aroundHousing action, the social partners will inject an additional €9 billion to help house “modest” employees, in addition to the €15 billion expected to be deployed by 2022.
The latest sign that the social issue is appearing in the strategies of institutional investors: the record raising of €900 million fromAmpere Management on behalf of its second fund dedicated to intermediate housing in order to produce 11,000 homes.
These initiatives show that finance is no longer so much the enemy of yesterday as it is one of today's solutions to streamline a blocked residential path for too many citizens. There is urgency for some and a necessity for everyone as the rise in real estate prices has become the symbol, even the accelerator, of social and territorial fractures.
The conditions for success depend on the conviction of investors and companies in the interest of combining economic imperatives and social and societal challenges, coupled with a frank and massive commitment on their part. They also require the end of a deaf dialogue between a political sphere that assimilates real estate to rent in order to better turn it into a fiscal cash cow and an economic sector that tries to exist in its own right. Another form of reconciliation in a way.