PROPERTY INDUSTRY ALLIANCE -RESEARCH OUTPUTS
NEWSLETTER
April 2009
As part of an initiative with the Property Industry Alliance (PIA), the BCO has committed to disseminate information about recent research publications from other property organisations including IPF, RICS, BCSC and BPF. We hope to continue with this initiative in the future and trust that the information included will be of interest to our membership.
Copies of all research documents can be downloaded by using the links below. Summary documents are available to all but full copies of the research are limited to the members of each individual organisation.
Recent BCO Research
Green Incentives (Feb 2009)
This report provides guidance on the wide range of green incentives and assesses their impact on the property and construction sectors.
Archaeology and development (Jan 2009)
A good practice guide to managing risk and maximising benefit.
The role of teleworking in Great Britain (Dec 2008)
A study by the University of Westminster looking at the likely impacts of teleworking.
Welcoming Workplace (Nov 2008)
Designing office space for an ageing workforce in the 21st century knowledge economy.
ISG Headquarters relocation – a case study in best practice and change management (Nov 2008)
In 2007 ISG was awarded the BCO Best of the Best Award as well as awards for both Regional and National Fit Out of Workplace for their corporate headquarters in London.
Cutting the capital’s carbon footprint: delivering decentralized energy in London (Oct 2008)
Decentralising a quarter of London's energy could save 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year
Environmental Briefing Note: Carbon Reduction Commitment (Oct 2008)
Thesecond paper in the new series of environmental briefing notes commissioned by the BCO's Environmental Sustainability Group
Introduction to Green Leases (Oct 2008)
A relatively new concept in the property market,green leases are an agreement between a landlord and tenant to ensure that buildings are operated in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Metricity – exploring new measures of urban density
Metricity examines how urban density is measured - and how such measures affect the way new urban developments are designed and occupied.
Workplace Case Studies: Barclays Global Investors – London Office (Sep 2008)
This report is the final in our series of extended case studies from the BCO report, ICT and Offices: Practised realities and their business benefits?
Recent IPF Research
The IPF Research Programmehas recently published two projects looking at aspects of sustainability that are particularly pertinent to the investment community, research on retail planning policy and a report on the history of the US REITs market. Since the last newsletter was published two UK Consensus Forecasts, one European Consensus Forecast and two waves of our survey of IFA’s have also been produced.
Planning Policy and Retail Property Market Performance in English Towns and Cities (October 2008)
In recent years that has been a noticeable interest in the relationship between development control policy and property markets. This work assesses how information on the local policy environment is used in property investment practice. In particular, the research explores the ways in which market actors access, assess and assimilate planning policy within the context of their investment decision making processes.
Costing Energy Efficiency Improvements in Existing Commercial Buildings (January 2009)
There is currently limited data available on the costs of upgrading existing commercial stock
in order to reduce carbon emissions. This information is important to inform investment
decisions given the current view that sustainable buildings might maintain long term rental and capital value growth patterns more effectively than less sustainable ones. The proposed research will therefore examine the opportunities for reducing carbon emissions from existing buildings through energy efficient improvements and the respective cost implications both in terms of initial capital costs and payback implications.
UK REITs: What can be Learnt from the US Experience? (March 2009)
With the advent in 2007 of UK REITs, it is important for investors to gain a better understanding of the nature of these investment vehicles, their role within a portfolio, and how this market may develop over time. This research adds to an understanding of UK REITs by examining the experience with REITs in the United States (and Canada) with a particular focus on the emergence, growth and maturation of the REIT sector in the so called “modern REIT era” that began in the early 1990s.
Occupier Demand for Sustainable Buildings (March 2009)
The circle of blame suggests that occupiers would occupy sustainable buildings if they were able to find them. This research explores this theory by examining acquisitions of commercial space by occupiers over the 24 months up to September 2008, to identify, with the parties involved, the extent to which sustainability was a factor within their decision-making. Exploring this one element of the circle of blame in detail generates greater understanding of where the barriers and opportunities lie in supplying commercial property occupiers with sustainable property.
IPF commissioned Oxford Brookes University to carry out this work. They were supported by King Sturge and Atisreal.
IFA’s Survey
In May and September 2008 and January 2009 IPF commissioned an online survey of IFA’s to find out more about their attitudes to commercial property investment. This produced some very interesting data on the recommendations IFA’s were making with regards property allocations within a portfolios, the returns expected by their clients and how there views of property as an asset class had changed over the last few months. The work is repeated every 4 months to enable us to develop longitudinal data tracking IFA attitudes to commercial property as an asset class.
IPF UK Consensus Forecast
Published in a quarterly basis the IPF UK Consensus Forecast provides a consensus view of the likely performance of the UK commercial property markets over the next 1,2,3 and 5 years. The contributors to the consensus are drawn from the fund management, agency, research and equity broker communities. The latest version was published on 6 March 2009 and is available on the IPF website.
IPF European Consensus Forecast
Published on a 6-monthly basis the European Consensus forecast provides a consensus view of prime rents in 24 European cities for the next 1,2 and 3 years. The contributors to the European Consensus Forecast are drawn from the investor, agent and research communities across Europe. This was last published in December 2008 and is available on the IPF website. The survey will be run again in May 2009.
RECENT RICS RESEARCH
Investor decision making and property attributes
This research, funded by the RICS Education Trust, explores the decision-making processes of investors, to seek to identify the key criteria at the individual building level.
2008 Valuation and sale Price report
This report explores the relationship between valuation and subsequent sale price of commercial property in 2008 in the UK, France, Holland and Germany.
Comparing methodologies for carbon footprinting distribution centres
This paper explores different approaches to measuring the carbon footprint of distribution centres, and highlights the issues associated with the use of different assumptions
The impact of sustainability on the investment environment: a case study of Australia
This paper explores some the factors driving sustainability in real estate investment and the issues involved in responding to them, from the point of view of investors and regulators.
What can we learn from the language of estate agency?
This research explores a new means of examining the dynamics of housing markets, by exploring the way that language used by estate agents in sales literature changes over time and in different market conditions.
Recent BCSC Research
Medium-sized and Smaller Towns - Raising the Game
The last 20 years have seen a major decline in the retail offer in medium-sized and smaller towns. Many have been strongly influenced by changing consumer demand and shopping habits. With the right tenant mix providing a varied and wide-ranging retail offer, new schemes in these towns are attracting growing numbers of customers seeking accessible and innovative options closer to home.
The report states that to create new viable small towns, developers will need to ensure a catchment area wide enough to pull spend away from other larger centres, and this is likely to require major investment and close partnerships between the public and private sectors. A high level of commitment and understanding is key to the success of these schemes.
Retail-led Regeneration: Why It Matters to Our Communities
Retail-led regeneration is an important mechanism to revitalise communities by providing jobs, promoting economic growth and creating attractive places to draw people into an area. It also has an important role to play in place-making as an element of wider urban regeneration.
The aim of the report is to identify good practice in terms of the community and social impacts of retail-led regeneration projects and draw lessons for future similar developments. Social and community impacts defined here refer to the effect that retail developments are having on populations including economic conditions but also on well being and quality of life, affecting the social fabric of a community.
Freight Consolidation and Remote Storage
This document has been prepared to provide a summary of the principle of freight consolidation and to highlight the potential benefits, and challenges of implementing freight consolidation centre (FCC) schemes.
This is outlined by studying the experiences of a number of stakeholders in the delivery and retail process, from shopping centre developers through to retailers and finally shoppers themselves. Further commentary is given on the financial aspects of implementing a successful FCC scheme and on the potential environmental benefits.
The Retail Property Industry - Its Contribution To The UK Economy
Over the past two years the emphasis within the retail property industry has switched from out-of town schemes to more town centre focussed developments, as cities increasingly look to regenerate.
Last year an unprecedented number of high profile shopping centres opened their doors such as Liverpool One, High Cross Leicester, Westfield London and Bristol’s Cabot Circus. Together, a combined total of over 500,000m2 of additional floorspace will be added to the UK’s shopping centre stock in 2008.
This report presents an informative overview which offers an eye-opening analysis of retail property and its pivotal role in the national economy.
Guidance Note 58 - The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC): An Overview
BCSC is pleased to have partnered up with the British Property Federation (BPF) and the British Retail Consortium (BRC), in raising industry awareness of this mandatory regulation which will have repercussions for all non-domestic buildings that have an annual half-hourly electricity use of above 6,000 MWh (an electric bill of £1million and over).
This guidance note provides an overview of what the CRC is and its implications for businesses.
Guidance Note 57- The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act
'Distress' - the procedure whereby a bailiff can seize goods for non-payment of rent - has always been a contentious issue. The right to distrain arises from centuries on common law and is often felt to be complex, archaic and confusing. Government has therefore sought to provide a new statutory framework for the future as contained within the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.
Recent BPF Research
Tax Increment Financing
The British Property Federation has issued a report on the case for introducing tax Increment Financing in the UK.
Funding the infrastructure needed to support major regeneration projects has been a longstanding concern but is even more of a hurdle in the current economic situation. The BPF paper argues that an American model for funding regeneration, Tax Increment Financing (TIF), could help to plug some of this gap.
Tax increment financing, which has provided finance for thousands of regeneration schemes across the United States, is a mechanism for using anticipated future increases in tax revenues to finance the current improvements (such as new or improved infrastructure) that are expected to generate those increased revenues. In simple terms, TIF works on a “spend now, tax later” principle that enables a local authority to trade anticipated future tax income for a present benefit.
The key criteria for allowing the creation of a TIF are that it is in support of a project that promotes regeneration and that without the use of TIF the project would be unviable.
The rapid spread of the TIF approach in the US demonstrates that it is widely seen as an effective tool with a proven track record. Overall, TIF schemes in the US have generated billions of dollars of investment – creating more jobs, more affordable housing and better public spaces.The BPF is now pushing for this finance model to be brought to the UK to ensure regeneration has the funding needed once the economy begins to recover and new infrastructure is urgently needed.
The BPF report can be viewed and downloaded at