High street & commercial real estate

17 March 2023

Creating vibrant, agile and sustainable high streets is a key priority for RICS. Our UK Commercial Real Estate Impact Report highlights the social and economic value of commercial real estate; its role socio in regenerating our town centres and the important part it will play in tackling climate change.

With the UK Government’s Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill giving more funding and planning powers to communities, RICS is calling for, and supporting, measures that will revitalise, regenerate and repurpose high streets and commercial property.

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UK commercial real estate impact report

Unlocking the potential of the commercial real estate sector to increase productivity and improve placemaking is a key to boosting UK regions

Latest high street & commercial real estate news

The future of our high streets

The House of Lords Built Environment Committee, chaired by Lord Moylan, has recently published its report, High Streets: Life beyond retail?, following an inquiry on High Streets in towns and small cities that began in February 2024.

Investors lose interest in UK commercial property as occupier demand falls

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Commercial Property Monitor Q4 2022 demonstrated a further deterioration in overall market conditions during the quarter.

Decarbonising UK real estate report

With buildings producing around 25% of all UK emissions, RICS is calling for urgent action from Government to address gaps and meet ambitious targets

RICS publishes its Levelling Up and Sustainable Placemaking report

The RICS supports the levelling up agenda, and its potential to create a more just economy with a more even spread of opportunity throughout the UK

How can the CRE sector automate their processes?

William Harris speaks with Andrew Knight as they discuss how the CRE sector can take automated their processes.

RICS high street and commercial real estate priorities

Our RICS Sustainability Annual Report tracks global sentiment towards a sustainable built environment, identifying market trends and attitudes towards the need to create greener real estate. The most recent 2022 report identified the growing premium greener, more energy efficient buildings have and how occupier and investor demands are seeking ever sustainable properties.
RICS supports MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards) which require non-domestic buildings to achieve a minimum EPC rating of B by 2030 however we call on government to review and improve the EPC methodology to improve transparency and accuracy, allow easier comparison of buildings and to advance net zero by reducing carbon emissions. We are also calling for the government to support those commercial real estate investors and occupiers who require technical and financial support to help create more energy efficient businesses.
EPC data is incomplete and should be expanded to incorporate supplementary operational energy in use metrics to deliver the right outcomes to drive sustainable commercial real estate. We urge government to accelerate the implementation of an Energy Performance Rating Scheme metric such as NABERS alongside the EPC or upgrade the existing Display Energy Certificate scheme to regulate a reduction in emissions.
RICS calls for embodied carbon assessments to be mandated for all new developments as well as major renovations. Measurement of embodied carbon in buildings is already standardised through BS EN 15978:2011 and RICS guidance although some methodological details remain to be defined.
Government should review the proposed Part Z amendment to the Building Regulations 2010 and establish maximum thresholds for embodied carbon in different building types, to be progressively tightened over time. This measure is an integral part of the roadmap to net-zero whole-life carbon produced by the cross-industry initiative led by the UK Green Building Council.
RICS calls for a funding stream to be created to support the renovation of carbon-intensive commercial properties, focusing on buildings located in secondary and tertiary locations where the risk of stranding assets is greater, and owners are unable to recover the cost of improvements due to low rental values.

RICS is calling for greater transparency in the provision of data on rateable value including rental values of comparable properties. We are supportive of the proposed move towards more frequent rating cycles, which could help to ease speculative and ‘fishing appeals’ where ratepayers put in an appeal as a means of securing information about their valuation (due to it not being publicly available).
We call on Government to extend the improvement relief for eligible works being introduced from April 2022 beyond the proposed 12 months to support occupiers investing in sustainability improvements. We call on government to actively incentivise all business premises sustainability improvements in addition to rates exemptions for renewable plant and machinery used in onsite renewable energy generation and storage (available from 2022 to 2025).