A Practical Guide to Green Leases for Property Professionals

A sea-change is coming for commercial leasing. As the climate emergency gathers pace, the pressure is on for the property sector to get its house(s) in order. And for all the column inches on potential regulation or absent top-down policy, it is fast understanding that its contractual relationships, particularly its green leases, will be key to concreting environmental ambitions and ESG expectations into its real estate. To be properly impactful, the green lease must do many things. It must cater for existing legislation in many areas, while anticipating change. It must rethink bricks and mortar as a complex body, living its operations and breathing out clean air. In aligning the interests of landlords and tenants it must, arguably for the first time, challenge the fundamental notions of FRI leasing in a way that is both credible and commercially viable. This book explains the why and the how of green leasing in the commercial world. It offers drafting tips to help this nascent tool take root, and it makes a necessarily broad analysis of its legislative context. It considers how the development of solicitor’s duties could demand more from the legal profession’s understanding and advice. It was written to inspire and empower real estate lawyers and practitioners, as they support the efforts of future-looking commercial clients to rebuild the industry from the ground up. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Clare Harman Clark is a Senior Counsel – Knowledge in the real estate team at Taylor Wessing LLP. She chairs the Property Section at the Law Society and teaches on the Property Law and Practice and Commercial Property modules of the LPC at the University of Westminster. Back in the mists of time, she trained as a journalist and still writes regularly for national and trade press. She sits on the editorial board of the Landlord and Tenant Review and has contributed chapters to various books on the development of legal practice (including Career Development for Women Lawyers; Tomorrow’s KM: innovation, best practice, and the future of knowledge management; and Lawyer’s guide to the future of practice management). Since qualifying at Clifford Chance LLP, she has spent the best part of two decades advising on all aspects of commercial real estate, for a vast array of clients. In her current role, Clare focuses on knowledge management and enjoys the professional space to leverage her transactional experience while engaging with the macro trends affecting our sector. She recently completed a Masters in International Planning and Sustainable Development – for all the discussion on pandemics, or Brexit, or technology, by far the biggest issue facing us today is the climate change crisis. CONTENTS Chapter One – Introduction – Changing the World Chapter Two – Background law and regulation Chapter Three – The new generation of green leases Chapter Four – Drafting the green lease Chapter Five – Seeking other opportunities to import green lease provisions Chapter Six – The role of the real estate lawyer Chapter Seven – Conclusion: The Future is Green Bibliography