A property fund set up to generate a return on investment by buying up prime commercial property assets in UK cities and then giving them a green makeover, has closed raising £69 million.
The fund, run by the low carbon asset manager and adviser
Climate Change Capital Limited (CCC), was first raised in August 2008 and has already
invested around £27 million in two
building assets in Birmingham and Edinburgh. It is now looking for further properties to invest in and says a number are “under active consideration”.
CCC says its property fund promises “attractive” returns for those who invest in it. These include institutional investors in the UK, Europe and Australia.
It is not yet clear just how attractive those investment will prove to be, however, as there is still no provable link between the improved environmental performance of a property in the UK and its increased value. However, property investment managers are increasingly committing themselves to upgrading their portfolios through sustainable measures, believing that it will not be long before
environmental regulation is brought in for existing building stock.
Around 40 per cent of carbon emissions in the UK come from its buildings, 98 per cent of which are more than five years old.
In April,
RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) will make changes to its Red Book – linking property values to the
sustainability of buildings – which some believe will increase the property values of buildings with improved environmental performance within the next two years.
Trend towards sustainable buildings "irreversible"Tim Mockett, joint founder partner of the CCC fund, said: “Investors are becoming increasingly aware of how the future regulatory landscape will look and are acting accordingly. The trend to more energy efficient buildings, driven by legislation and the wishes of occupiers and investors, is irreversible.”
The two properties acquired by the CCC fund last year include an office and retail building in Birmingham’s central business district and 57,000 square feet of Grade A office space in the centre of Edinburgh.
As well as its property fund,
CCC also has a
cleantech fund, which is one of the world’s largest private equity funds dedicated to clean technology, as well as the largest private sector carbon fund in the world and Ventus Funds, a group of funds specifically targeted at the UK renewable energy sector.
Related News:
Green Investment NewsGreen and Sustainable Building NewsEnvironmental Regulation NewsRelated Links:
www.climatechangecapital.comwww.rics.org