Property Investors Demanding Sustainable Buildings
CBRE survey finds 70 per cent view sustainability an important consideration when acquiring property
Originally posted on businessGreen
Property owners must improve the sustainability of their buildings if they want to attract investors and maintain value, a new survey reveals.
A poll of fund and asset managers, pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private equity or venture capital firms by real estate advisers CBRE has found investors care about, and are acting upon, sustainable property measures as they understand there will be a material impact on their assets and financial performance.
CBRE said the interest in sustainability growing among institutional investors is driven by their greater emphasis on long-term investments and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) considerations. In addition, the pre-acquisition due diligence process, which includes analysis of detailed sustainability criteria, is now mainstream and the threat of assets becoming stranded weighs more heavily when investment decisions are being made.This figure rises to 83 per cent when just institutional investors - pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds - are selecting property to acquire.
Rebecca Pearce, EMEA head of sustainability at CBRE, said all types of investors are facing a growing body of regulation, such as EU Energy Efficiency Directive, and the Minimum Energy Performance Standards, as well as other pressures.
