London Property Alliance’s latest research paper, Retrofit First, Not Retrofit Only: A focus on the retrofit and redevelopment of 20th century buildings, reviews the current challenges and opportunities faced by central London policy makers and property owners as we race to decarbonise our commercial buildings to ensure London becomes a net zero city. The report provides aims to bring greater clarity to planning and investment criteria, which ultimately underpins future development, pinpointing key considerations in determining the best approach taken from case studies and the real-world experience.

The research paper has been authored by JLL, and produced with support from BentallGreenOak, British Land, Derwent London, GPE and Landsec. It is third in a series focusing on sustainability, and follows our Focus on Retrofit in Historic Buildings paper.

Kirsty Draper, Head of Sustainability for UK Agency, JLL, and co-author of the report, commented:

“There is a narrow and fast-closing window to reduce emissions from the built environment. At both national and London levels, political appetite for change is increasing, but there are challenges around determining the most sustainable approach due to the complex interaction between issues such as net zero carbon, community and heritage policy.  Our analysis underlines that retrofit should always be explored in the first instance and that the delivery of net-zero buildings must be explored on a case-by-case basis, with policy that allows for the redevelopment of net zero carbon buildings where retrofit is not feasible.”