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Bernie Devine, Senior Regional Director, Yardi
“If I can track my pizza on my phone, why can’t I expect a fast and frictionless rental experience?”
This question – or various iterations of it –is being asked by an entirely new generation of renters who have very different expectations of customer service than their parents once did.
In an era of instant information, where ecommerce allows us to shop from anywhere and anytime, renters no longer want to spend their Saturdays pounding the pavement or filling in dozens of rental application forms. They don’t expect to deal with real estate agents and property managers that operate in an analog world. And they don’t understand why paying their biggest monthly expense – their rent – is not a positive and personalised interaction.
Whether virtual tours or AI-enabled customer service bots, technology can make the process of renting better. Despite rapid advances in real estate technology, many property companies operate in an analog world; and that means from the start the discovery process to the day they move out, the renter is beset by pain points.
Read MoreWithin the office sector, occupiers can focus on higher-quality assets that possess green and sustainable features and establish a roadmap to adopt an ESG agenda from green buildings to energy audits, to green leases. Meanwhile, landlords can invest in smart and green buildings, including retrofitting older stock and prepare for new ESG requirements by embedding sustainability into every stage of the building life cycle. In the industrial and logistics sector, a paramount trend to watch is the sharper focus on ESG criteria, evident from 67% of occupiers believing that green or sustainability features will be more prominent in logistics facilities in the future in CBRE’s 2021 APAC Logistics Occupier Survey.
This report was originally published in https://apacresearch.cbre.
535 Asia Pacific-based investors participated in the survey, which asked respondents a range of questions regarding their buying appetite and preferred real estate strategies, sectors and markets for 2022. Investment sentiment towards Asia Pacific commercial real estate remains positive. A key finding is that investors continue to regard the incorporation of ESG criteria into investment strategies as critical to fulfilling regulatory requirements, preserving future asset value, protecting the environment and enhancing brand image. As a result, ESG criteria continue to gain traction among investors. Approaches include incorporating ESG into AEI and consulting external rating parties like GRESB when assessing potential acquisitions. More investors are also leveraging green financing for ESG upgrades as additional costs are required. These include developers, REITs and fund managers.
This report was originally published in https://apacresearch.cbre.
Singapore's carbon tax will be gradually increased from the current SG$5/tonne of carbon emissions up to SG$50-80 in 2030.
The first payments under the newly proposed tax levels will be due in 2025, based on 2024 emissions. Large facilities will be most impacted, but end-energy consumers will also feel the increase.
There are meaningful ways to reduce exposure – both for OPEX (facilities) and end-energy consumers. Facilities should look into driving energy efficiency and carbon efficiency into operations via building controls, fabric improvements, and efficient building services and installations through CAPEX.
Meanwhile, a reduction in end-energy user exposure can be countered by providing subsidies and monetary incentives.
Read the full article at https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/singapore/insights/singapore-carbon-tax-2022
Read MoreSingapore has announced that it is lifting a 2019 moratorium on the construction of new data centres, however government concerns about energy efficiency and consumption mean new facilities will need to meet rigorous standards.
In the short term, the number of new data centres will be very limited, with a maximum of three approvals in a new post-mortarium pilot phase, which begins in the second quarter of this year and which will last 12-18 months. The new data centres will also have a cap on their power use: all must be between 10MW and 30MW.
Jack Harkness, director, industrial & logistics, Asia at Savills, says: “The end of the moratorium and permission for new data centres is good news, as is the focus on sustainability, however with only three approvals in this pilot phase, competition will be fierce.”
The Singapore government imposed a moratorium on construction of new data centres in 2019, due to concerns about the amount of electricity they use. At present, the city-state has 70 data centres with aggregate capacity of 1000MW; the sector uses around 7% of Singapore’s electricity.
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