Multiple logics in financialization? Moving to carbon sustainability in build-to-rent development
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Wainwright, Tom
Demirel, Pelin
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Real-estate has become an integral part of financialised economies, but while scholars have turned to examine the emergence of carbon markets, the role of carbon in real-estate finance has been broadly overlooked. Real-estate as a sector has been historically slow to innovate, particularly in response to pressure from climate change. More recently, the attitude of UK build-to-rent (BTR) developers to carbon is changing, partly due to global initiatives including the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), but also pressure from institutional investors. In this paper, we provide nuanced insight into the emergence of new logics within financialisation's governance in the UK BTR sector and examine how investors attempt to steer developers into adopting low carbon building materials and designs, while identifying barriers. First, we highlight the multiplicity of financialisation's logics wrapped within assets, highlighting the presence of a carbon logic, which creates pressure for low-carbon activity. Second, we contribute to debates on assetisation and financialisation by examining the tools and knowledge used to create low-carbon real-estate assets, and how carbon attributes are ‘retrofitted’ into existing asset classes.
Date Issued
2023-02-01
Date Acceptance
2022-08-18
Citation
Environment and Planning A, 2023, 55 (1), pp.22-45
ISSN
0308-518X
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Start Page
22
End Page
45
Journal / Book Title
Environment and Planning A
Volume
55
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-09-22