sustainability

Sustainability

Over the past year, we have witnessed a seismic shift in the prioritisation of sustainability issues. Globally, 35 percent of investors now require private real estate firms to implement ESG (Environmental, Social &amp; Governance) initiatives.In the UK the Government has committed to decarbonisation targets and over 250 councils across the country have declared a climate emergency. With almost three quarters of UK banks treating climate risks like other financial risks, it is evident real
 estate professionals, policy makers and investors are coming to terms with the risks climate change poses on their buildings and businesses.Future-focused homebuilders should address these issues head-on. By taking a proactive approach to mitigating the risks climate change poses and by anticipating future policy changes, homebuilders can place themselves in a strong position to succeed. If you are a homebuilder where do you begin?Where might homebuilders begin? The <a href="https://nextgeneration-initiative.co.uk/">NextGeneration</a> benchmark is a third-party independent benchmark that can help homebuilders tackle key sustainability issues and provide a holistic framework for
 them to understand their performance across environmental, social and economic criteria.Benchmarks allow companies to compare performance against a recognised external standard. Initiatives such as NextGeneration, mean companies can compare their performance against their peers, enabling them to better understand their current performance,
 set improvement targets and share best practices for mutual advantage.&nbsp; A benchmark that reflects the ever-evolving sustainability sectorEach year, NextGeneration, assesses the sustainability performance of the top 25 homebuilders in the UK, by annual turnover. It encourages companies to report against a wide range of sustainability criteria, categorised into 15 focus areas.&nbsp; These
 criteria are evaluated and updated on a three-year rolling period, allowing the benchmark to reflect the ever-evolving sustainability sector and enabling homebuilders to review their progress over time. Essentially, the criteria are a one-stop shop
 that homebuilders can use to identify how they can improve their sustainability performance. The NextGeneration assessment is primarily based on publicly available information and is carried out in two phases. In the first, publicly available information is reviewed and in the second phase, members can improve their score by providing evidence of activities that are not discussed in the public domain. A driver of transparency and accountability within the homebuilding sectorNextGeneration has been a key driver of greater transparency and accountability within the homebuilding sector. By showcasing leading firms, NextGeneration aims to create healthy competition amongst homebuilders and ultimately encourages them to deliver
 more sustainable homes and communities. By publicly evaluating homebuilders, NextGeneration enables Government, registered providers, investors, employees and other stakeholders to understand the sustainability of homebuilders&rsquo; operations and
 the homes that they build.Beyond benchmarking, NextGeneration provides its members with market intelligence briefings and detailed advice supporting best practices. It also facilitates knowledge-sharing to impart experience and best practices to the wider industry. Jones Lang Lasalle is the Secretariat for the NextGeneration Benchmark and the Executive Committee consists of Homes England and the UKGBC. The Executive Committee provides core funding to the initiative and comprises its main governance body. This committee&rsquo;s
 role is to ensure the integrity and transparency of the initiative.&nbsp;<div style="margin:15px;"><a href="mailto:diana.mchugh@eu.jll.com" target="_blank"><button class="Button primary">Contact</button></a><img src="https://weasresicmspd.azurewebsites.net/images/default-source/articles/20200406_nextgen_blog_images_ld_author_image.jpg?sfvrsn=94405511_1" sf-size="100" />Diana McHugh &ndash; Sustainability Consultant - Upstream Sustainability Services</div>

Providing homebuilders with the tools for sustainability

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NextGeneration the homebuilders benchmark for sustainability

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JLL has committed to net zero carbon in our UK workplaces by 2030 and will also lead the adoption of net zero carbon buildings across the whole of the UK. Using our influence and expertise, we intend to play a leadership role in helping the built environment
 respond with urgency and practical action to the climate emergency. We welcome the Government&rsquo;s recent proposal to significantly update <a href="file://eu.jllnet.com/ukshare$/UKRoot/Marketing/LON/15.%20RESIDENTIAL/2020/Content/Blogs/Building%20Homes%20for%20the%20Future/Building%20Regulations%20Part%20L"></a><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/conservation-of-fuel-and-power-approved-document-l">Building Regulations Part L</a> (conservation of fuel and power). Published in October 2019, the <a href="file://eu.jllnet.com/ukshare$/UKRoot/Marketing/LON/15.%20RESIDENTIAL/2020/Content/Blogs/Building%20Homes%20for%20the%20Future/Future%20Homes%20Standard%20Consultation"></a><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-homes-standard-changes-to-part-l-and-part-f-of-the-building-regulations-for-new-dwellings">Future Homes Standard Consultation</a> includes proposed actions to increase the energy efficiency requirements for new homes in 2020, including future-proofing with low carbon heating and world-leading levels of energy efficiency; set to be introduced
 by 2025. The consultation will impact a number of industry stakeholders, from property developers to environmental organisations and local authorities.<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theccc.org.uk%2F2019%2F02%2F21%2Fuk-homes-unfit-for-the-challenges-of-climate-change-ccc-says%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7CLydia.Daniels%40eu.jll.com%7C2530e7dcd159448f9e3508d7a89bde79%7Cbfef2b06d2564f8ebd038d3687987063%7C0%7C0%7C637163259741433646&amp;sdata=tZYVTURR8dXEgAW5Jk%2BZXL8Hha3Hf6tqynwau%2FLYXSI%3D&amp;reserved=0">According to the UK Committee on Climate Change</a>, emissions reductions from UK homes have stalled. At the same time, energy use in homes &ndash; which accounts for 14% of total UK emissions &ndash; increased between 2016 and 2017.
 Constructing an average UK home causes over 50 tonnes of CO2 to be emitted, the equivalent of heating an average UK home for 21 years, according to the <a href="https://nextgeneration-initiative.co.uk/"></a><a href="https://nextgeneration-initiative.co.uk/">Next Generation benchmark report</a> released in 2019. We support the Government&rsquo;s preferred option of a 31% reduction in carbon emissions. However, if key changes are not made to the proposed Part L regulations, the required carbon emission reductions will not be delivered, leading to a less desirable outcome.&nbsp;&nbsp; <ul><li>The proposed standard is viable - based on JLL&rsquo;s experience advising clients and the Greater London Authority&rsquo;s monitoring of zero carbon home planning applications in 2018. </li><li>It is imperative that the Part L carbon emission and energy requirements are performance-based and that developers are accountable for the &ldquo;performance gap&rdquo; when homes are actually lived in. This accountability for the actual carbon performance
 of homes will lead to better design stage modelling and construction of homes. </li><li>It&rsquo;s likely that in the short-term there will be a reduction in housing units supplied in the UK and potentially reduced S106 contributions. In the long-term however, production may normalise as the land market adjusts to new technical assumptions
 on build costs and the supply chain of low carbon building fabric, technology and skills. This assumes a robust, low carbon supply chain emerges. </li><li>A holistic approach is necessary to build homes that are comfortable, safe and low carbon. Compliance with carbon emissions, overheating, ventilation, average daylight factors, air quality and fire safety standards (as written and proposed)
 will significantly narrow the scope of housing specification to the point that it will break viability of delivery in many schemes.&nbsp; </li><li>Demand-side incentives tied to annual monitoring, such as consumer rebates or lower stamp duties for energy efficient homes, should complement the building regulations changes through the transition phase towards a low carbon housing market. This
 will support the investment and innovation needed for a market based on new technologies to emerge.</li></ul>&nbsp;On the whole, an ambitious national standard is required to develop the supply chain of low carbon building technology in addition to the construction, maintenance and operations skills needed to live in net zero carbon homes.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/jll-global-olm-np/image/upload/v1580382959/resi/gb/cms/Contacts/AndrewFrost.jpg" alt="Andrew Frost" /><figcaption style="text-align:center;">Andrew Frost Head of Residential, EMEA</figcaption></figure>Photo credit: Jim Stephenson

Future-proofing UK homes in response to the climate emergency

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JLL responds to the UK Government&rsquo;s proposal to increase energy efficiency requirements for new homes.&nbsp;

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Wishful Thinking&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
Change is a constant. It&rsquo;s hard not to love that little paradox. At the same time, with yet another new housing minister for the industry, it also makes me wince just a little.&nbsp; 
 
Kit Malthouse is the new baton-carrier in chief for housing delivery and early indications are that we will see relative continuity in policy terms. Kit has a solid pedigree understanding the complexities of development through his days in London local politics and is well-placed to make a meaningful contribution to Government&rsquo;s housing supply ambitions. For this we should be thankful - and a little relieved. 
 
Unaffordability is a national scourge, new supply across the spectrum of tenures still matters and modernising our systems of production through digital construction is still very much on the agenda. As ever, the 'how' element of these issues is the biggest challenge. Kit has his work cut out. 
 
Homes England is also on the job, but housing remains the most important domestic policy agenda outside of flu season, so we all hope Kit has more to offer. Through the prism of Grenfell and negative news stories on the experiences of new build customers, we need to ensure that the drive for greater volume does not come at the cost of quality. On that basis I would like to rekindle an old favourite that was a forgotten victim of the global recession - sustainability.&nbsp; 
 
There will be howls of indignation in some quarters I'm sure, but the fact is, we have made no meaningful strides towards an uprating of sustainable quality in new homes in the last decade and we are a long way backwards in regulatory terms. Anyone remember the drive towards 'zero carbon' homes? 
 
Our collective failure to improve the sustainability of UK housing delivery should be an embarrassment. As someone who regularly tours international practitioners around UK product I can assure you our sustainability credentials are several steps off the pace. Sustainability isn't just about the environment, and this isn&rsquo;t one of those browbeats to 'do better' for dear Mother Earth. This is an argument for sustainability on commercial terms. Yes, that's right; sustainable residential design can help make you money. 
 
The Rapacious Tree Hugger
 
OK, I admit - this is actually more of a cost savings than revenue generation story. Anyway, I've hooked you now, so stay with me as its about to get good. 
 
In the decade since the global recession, the UK housing market has indeed both changed, and stayed the same. We have all of those same challenges of unaffordability and under supply. We also run a constant narrative of needing to 'do something' while at the same time achieving very little. There are however, two notable exceptions. 
 
First, the growth in Build to Rent during this cycle is actually pretty extraordinary. Latest British Property Federation statistics speak for themselves, with over 22,000 units now completed and over 100,000 committed units on the way.&nbsp; Those figures were zero and zero respectively, 10 years ago. 
 
The other really big shift I would like to note is Registered Provider consolidation. The big are getting bigger and moreover, the full spectrum of Registered Providers are getting smarter and more efficient with the use of balance sheet leverage in capital markets and in selective engagement with market-facing activity to cross-subsidise core activity. 
 
These changes, it turns out, are quite important for the commercial viability of sustainable homes. In short, a transition towards long-term management of product rather than sales-orientated delivery creates an alignment of interests between the ongoing management of residential buildings and the people who live there. That matters a lot, because just like in the commercial property sector when investors are reaping the benefits of up front investments, they tend to make different decisions. 
 
In a world dominated by &lsquo;for-sale&rsquo; product, and a consumer&rsquo;s marginal willingness to pay barely above zero, sustainability is delivered through regulation. However, as Build to Rent investors and their Registered Provider cousins are squeezing the last pips of value out of newly created assets, which they intend to hold for the long-term, investment in sustainable features like better insulation, triple-glazing, and smart metering, for example, is good business.&nbsp; 
 
To illustrate, a typical erosion of gross to net yield might be circa 25% today on a Build to Rent asset. Imagine what would happen to running returns if that became 22% or even tighter? A 3% savings on running costs generates a net cash improvement of &pound;2.2 million on a sample 200 unit block that JLL recently studied. As more and more buildings are traded on investment value, as determined by cash flow, this is a breakthrough moment. Not bad, for a tree hugger. 
 
Up-front costs have always been the hurdle for sustainable investment. Zero carbon delivery (setting aside this issue of how this is actually defined) was assumed to add something like 25% - 30% to build costs 10 years ago. However the UK industry is transitioning towards manufactured solutions which will help innovators in the sector to militate against many of the input costs associated with sustainable delivery. 
 
Put differently, in a world where digital construction through off-site manufacturing is enabling precision-engineering for home design, that 25%-30% build cost premium is now way off the mark. In fact, there are manufacturers in the UK today that already believe they can already achieve something like the former &lsquo;zero carbon&rsquo; standard for a sub-10% premium over traditional construction. We are nearing the commercial tipping point for sustainable housing delivery.&nbsp; 
 
Digital construction creates a systems approach to housing delivery. Tighter design tolerances for joins in the manufactured home are combined with better programming for trades and integration of sustainable components. Together, this represents a higher quality final product at little or no additions to the unit cost of production. This is a different language to traditional construction, but it will enable a new and better approach to the way homes are made.&nbsp; 
 
Sustainability in new UK housing stock will still struggle to attract a green premium from buyers. It may also have some resistance from corners of both the public and private sector. But investment in sustainable design is very likely to change the way we deliver homes sooner than expected by finally unlocking the financial viability that underpins good commercial decisions.&nbsp; 
 
In that sense, I guess some things never change.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Wishful Thinking

Change is a constant. It's hard not to love that little paradox. At the same time, with yet another new housing minister for the industry, it also makes me wince just a little.

&nbsp;
Change is a constant. It's hard not to love that little paradox. At the same time, with yet another new housing minister for the industry, it also makes me wince just a little.

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