Multifamily Impact Council Releases First-Ever Impact Investing Industry Framework
(April 6, 2023) — Today, the Multifamily Impact Council (MIC) released the first-ever multifamily impact investing framework, the Multifamily Impact Framework™, which sets a baseline of common principles, definitions, and reporting guidelines for multifamily impact investments to help property owners and investors attract more impact-motivated capital into the United States rental housing market.
The Framework is the result of a year-long process involving interviews, research, public surveys, feedback sessions, and input from MIC’s Advisory Board that established seven principles critical to multifamily impact investing:
- Affordability
- Housing Stability
- Economic Health and Mobility
- Resident Engagement
- Physical and Mental Health
- Climate and Resilience
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Framework establishes definitions, minimum impact thresholds, and reporting guidelines for each impact principle. The Framework also includes an evidence base of research and industry best practices supporting each principle, and it maps each principle to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as global ESG benchmarks such as the Global ESG Benchmark for Real Assets (GRESB) and the Global Impact Investment Network’s (GIIN) IRIS+ framework.
By establishing principles around how the industry can deliver and measure impact, the Framework establishes a common baseline for impact investing. It also creates a consistent and transparent path for impact-motivated investors across the globe.
“We designed our framework to serve as the operating system for multifamily impact investing in the United States,” Bob Simpson, President and CEO of MIC, said. “By establishing common principles, definitions, and minimum threshold requirements that are open to public review and feedback, and by creating reporting guidelines that quantify impact and are feasible to collect, the framework establishes a clear roadmap for impact-motivated private capital to invest in affordable and sustainable rental housing across the country.”
You can view a summary of version 1.0 of the Multifamily Impact Framework at multifamilyimpactcouncil.org/framework. The MIC is encouraging market participants to review the framework summary and provide feedback that can be used to help enhance future versions at multifamilyimpactcouncil.org/frameworkfeedback.
Along with reviewing public feedback, MIC is preparing to launch an online Resource Library housing impact-related research and best practices associated with the Multifamily Impact Framework’s seven impact principles. MIC is also seeking partnerships with organizations to develop impact analytic tools based on the framework’s reporting metrics to measure the social return on investment across each impact principle and explore research projects to understand better and quantify the relationship between impact investments and financial performance.
About Multifamily Impact Council
The Multifamily Impact Council (MIC) is a non-profit 501(c)6 membership organization dedicated to supporting the multifamily impact community and establishing multifamily impact investments as a credible, widely accepted asset class that increases the flow of global impact capital into affordable and sustainable rental housing in the United States.
The Multifamily Impact Framework’s Seven Principles
