Climate risk has moved from a growing concern to a core property transaction issue, according to new market research from Landmark Information Group.
The report, Climate Change in the property sector 2026: Turning insight into action, shows that more than four in five property professionals (81%) say climate risk information is becoming as important as other due diligence checks.
The researchers found that more than two thirds (68%) of respondents report increased client concern about climate change compared to 12 months ago. Client concern is most pronounced among mortgage lenders, of whom 76% report an increase, followed by estate agents (68%) and conveyancers (60%).
Despite this shift, 75% of those surveyed believe climate risks are still being identified too late to prevent disruption in many transactions.
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%), the research reveals.
Chris Loaring, group sustainability director at Landmark Information Group, said: “Climate risk has crossed a critical threshold, becoming an expected part of due diligence and decision-making across the property transaction process.
“What this market research shows is that the challenge is no longer awareness, but action. 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.”
To conduct its research, Landmark Information Group interviewed 50 mortgage lenders, 50 residential conveyancers and 50 estate agents in England, Scotland and Wales in May 2026.
2 responses
Amazing, as I have never had any client raise any questions or concerns about climate risk etc, despite always sending to them an environmental search with comments upon it in my property report.
Climate change may be a concern for some, but should it really be a concern for property lawyers?
There has been debate in the profession about “environmental searches” and “climate‑risk reports”, which some lawyers argue are built on opaque algorithms and questionable science. Michael Lawson and other experts have warned that climate‑modelling metrics used internationally have recently shifted, so that many commercial reports rely on assumptions that have drifted even further away from credible science.
A solicitor’s retainer is grounded in evidence and verifiable fact, not in interpreting speculative modelling or translating global climate scenarios into property‑level predictions that scientists openly say cannot be made with accuracy.
If the government wants a statutory climate‑risk regime, it can legislate. Until then, expecting busy practitioners to advise on unverifiable predictions risks shifting liability onto the profession for the sake of someone else’s commercial narrative.