The Acquisitions Sustainability Toolkit provides commercial property owners with practical guidance on how to ensure sustainability risks and opportunities are reviewed as part of the acquisition process.

This Toolkit is principally designed to support investment and acquisition teams within commercial real estate companies and investment managers. It sets out the sustainability criteria that should be considered during acquisition, highlighting investment critical issues, establishing the key criteria to be addressed during the due diligence process; as well as reviewing whether any mitigation measures are required.

The Toolkit is split into three main sections: 

1. Sustainability Investment Checklist: setting out the information which should be requested and reviewed as part of the due-diligence process, from initial pre-bid through to transaction. Provided in a checklist format, it aims to complement any existing due-diligence processes by setting out the questions that should be asked; where such information is best sought or requested; follow on questions to support further investigation of potential risks; as well as providing additional notes and links to supplementary industry guidance.
    
2. ‘Investment Critical’ Decision Trees: For a number of ‘Investment Critical’ items included within the Sustainability Investment Checklist, a set of decision trees have been developed to support property owners in identifying the risks, considering the potential impacts, and determining whether any mitigation measures are required. These are presented as flowcharts setting out the sequence of events typical in assessing these items as well as the key decisions that may need to be made.
    
3. Asset Onboarding: setting out the key questions that should be considered post-acquisition to ensure a smooth transition into on-going management. This centres around reviewing all information that was gathered during due diligence, identifying key information gaps, and considering how this information should feed into property management regimes and future asset management plans.

An Excel version of the Sustainability Investment Checklist is also available below.