Financial Incentives for Sustainable Property - A 10 Year Perspective

The last decade has seen a substantial shift in attitudes to sustainability across the economy as a whole. Sustainability has risen rapidly up the corporate agenda and emerged as an issue the property industry is being encouraged to address through an increasingly complex range of financial incentives and penalties. This paper examines the property markets changing response to the issue of sustainability over this important period. Changes in the way the property industry has perceived sustainability as an issue and the incentives set before it to encourage greater sustainability are explored. The paper is based on a series of three studies carried out in 1995, 2000 and 2005 that investigated both the extent to which sustainability was expected to impact on commercial property rental and capital values and the financial incentives industry operators considered to be the most effective. Conclusions are drawn which relate to the longitudinal change in the industry's understanding and perceptions of sustainability as an issue. Recommendations are made for effective policy development and industry response.