Being Green Helps Boost Tenant Demand

Ruth McCarthy, a partner at Slater Heelis Collier Littler, a law firm located in Trafford believes that the introduction of green leases will attract tenants and will help property firms to find a way out of the recession.
She added that an improved greener attitude towards running and maintaining the building will contribute to an increased tenant demand and more cooperative relations between landlords and tenants.
Mrs. McCarthy is determined that green leases will be a success as they are currently commonplace in the United States and are sometimes mandatory in Australia. Moreover, she claimed that the credit crunch is just the right time for people to understand that green buildings are money-savers, rather than a simple image of luxury. She added that the first-movers will be rewarded the most as being green brings about a great number of economic advantages.
According to Mrs. McCarthy, apart from the economic incentives, green buildings are an issue of reputation as well. She said that by being green landlords and tenants are able to send a positive message to their employees, colleagues, shareholders and investors. Moreover, green buildings are said to increase employee productivity and decrease sickness rates.
In addition, green leases promote tight cooperation between the landlord and the tenant as to how properties are to be run and managed, which is very different from a traditional lease, where the landlord-tenant relationship is built on mutual distrust.
The views of Mrs. McCarthy are also being shared by a planning consultancy DPP, based in Manchester, and by the UK Green Building Council.