Climate risk is now a key issue for buying and selling homes, it’s claimed.

Landmark Information Group claims that 81% of property professionals say climate risk information is becoming as important as other due diligence checks. 

Client concern is most pronounced among mortgage lenders, of whom 76% report an increase, followed by estate agents (68%) and conveyancers (60%). 

But 75% of property professionals believe climate risks are still being identified too late to prevent disruption in many transactions. 

For example, when climate-related risks are found later in the process, the findings revealed the most common outcome is delays while further checks are completed (30%). 

This is followed by insurance complications emerging and delaying progress (19%) and buyers and sellers withdrawing, causing the transaction to fall through (19%).  

A Landmark spokesperson says:“Climate risk has crossed a critical threshold, becoming an expected part of due diligence and decision-making across the property transaction process. 

“… The industry understands the importance of climate risk information, but it needs access to that insight earlier and more consistently to improve transaction certainty.  

“As climate risk becomes more deeply embedded in property transactions, clearer regulation, shared responsibility and better integration of data will be critical to helping the market move from insight to action.” 

The company says its research points to a demand for earlier, clearer and more consistent climate risk information.

Nearly nine in ten property professionals (87%) say they would act earlier on climate risk if information was easier to access and interpret, while the same proportion say the industry needs a more consistent approach to when and how climate risk information is shared. 

A further 85% say upfront visibility of climate risk would improve transaction certainty. 

Looking ahead, property professionals believe the biggest change over the next five years will be how consistently climate risks are handled across the industry (30%). 

This is followed by the severity of impact when issues arise, including greater delays, renegotiations and fall-throughs (25%), and the point in the transaction when risks are identified (20%). 

However, according to the market research, the main barriers to property industry readiness are lack of clear regulation (27%), gaps in data availability (19%) and the cost of integrating new tools (15%).