Sustainable Returns

Framing the Challenge

While the need for social and environmentally sustainable development has never been greater, investors and developers face a series of structural and financial constraints that inhibit progress. With no small amount of irony, these are particularly acute where urban regeneration is most needed.

Key structural and financial constraints facing urban regeneration

• Value derived through sustainable remains difficult to evidence and standardise.
• Financial feasibility is constrained by market incentives.
• Capital continues to favour financial yield over social or environmental need.
• Regulatory frameworks introduce further complexity.

Reframing Value

The most economically resilient developments, those that pose the lowest long-term risk, integrate broader economic, social, and environmental value drivers. Real estate appraisal methodologies need to extend beyond more immediate financial returns to account for the value of these factors, which are increasingly recognised by investors and developers.

Key value drivers in sustainable urban regeneration

• Financial value
• Social value
• Environmental value
• Strategic & regulatory value

Including accessibility, universal design, health and well-being, local economic growth, tenant demand, brand and reputation, regulatory compliance, carbon reduction, energy efficiency and management, climate resilience, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and long-term stability and resilience.