Aareal Bank : Summarized separate non-financial report 2023 for Aareal Bank AG

Separate Combined

Non-financial

Report 2023

for Aareal Bank AG

Separate Combined Non-financial Report 2023 for Aareal Bank AG

1. About this report
2. Description of our business model and strategy
3. Sustainability management at Aareal Bank Group

1. Materiality analysis pursuant to the CSR-RUG

1. Risk reporting
2. 1. Environmental matters

1. 2. Employee matters

1. 3. Social matters

1. 4. Respect for human rights

1. 5. Compliance

1. EU Taxonomy

1. Independent Assurance Practitioner's Report

1. Imprint

1) 2)

Separate Combined Non-financial Report 2023 for Aareal Bank AG

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About this report

This Separate Combined Non-financial Report for Aareal Bank AG and Aareal Bank Group relates to the 2023 financial year. It was prepared in accordance with section 340a (1a) in conjunction with sections 289b (3) and 340i (5) in conjunction with section 315b (3) of the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch - HGB) in the version as amended by the German CSR Directive Implementing Act (CSR-Richtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz - CSR-RUG), and was published separately from the Management Report. Additional information and performance indicators for environmental, social and governance aspects are published on Aareal Bank Group's website.

Section 171 (1) sentence 4 of the German Public Limited Companies Act (Aktiengesetz - AktG) requires Aareal Bank AG's Supervisory Board to examine the Non-financial Report. To assist it in this examination, the Supervisory Board commissioned a limited assurance review in accordance with ISAE 3000 (Revised), the international audit standard, from audit firm KPMG AG. In addition to the reporting and the non-financial performance indicators, this review covered the materiality analysis, the policies and the due diligence processes. KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft issued an unqualified certification on a limited assurance engagement. This certification is included as Annex at the end of the report.

The core topics identified in the materiality analysis were used to select the contents to be disclosed in the report on the aspects required by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2453 (environmental matters, employee-related matters, social mat- ters, respect for human rights, and anti-corruption and bribery matters). The Non-financial Report was prepared on the basis of the requirements set out in the provisions of the HGB. The content of the anti-corruption and bribery matters aspect has been combined with the information security and data protection groups of topics in the Compliance chapter. Information that is required to be published in the non-financial reporting pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 (the "Taxonomy Regulation") is presented in a separate chapter following the five matters mentioned above.

The information we provide in the individual chapters is also aligned with selected indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, so as to make our performance in relation to the various aspects contained in the report comparable. In addition, we have followed the recommendation of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) since financial year 2020 and have again integrated the recommended content for the four-pillar structure with the structure of this Non-financial Report. In line with this, we use a uniform structure to report relevant content on our strategy, governance, risk management, and metrics and targets for each aspect, ensuring that the content is transparent and easily accessible. We disclose the environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets resolved by the Management Board, a practice we started in our reporting for financial year 2022. We measure the progress we make towards achieving our targets constantly using appropriate interim targets and associated KPIs. The subchapters, which are replicated across the different matters, group the TCFD recommendations together as follows:

1. Significance for our sector and our Group
   A description of the importance of the matter in question for us as a company and our business environment, and of the resulting strategic implications for us
2. Our management approach
   A description of how we have positioned ourselves with respect to governance and opportunity and risk management for the matter in question, to the extent that this is applicable and considered relevant
3. Performance indicators and progress made in the reporting period
   This is used to disclose relevant results and indicators, including progress reporting

A number of places in this report refer to information not contained in the Group Management Report and to the Corporate Governance Statement. This additional information does not constitute part of this Separate Combined Non-financial Report.

1. https://www.aareal-bank.com/
2. Information on the website was not included in the limited assurance review.

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Description of our business model and strategy1)

The strategic business segments of Aareal Bank Group are commercial property financing and services, software products and digital solutions for the property sector and related industries. The strategic business segments are assigned to each of three segments: Structured Property Financing, Banking & Digital Solutions and Aareon. Aareal Bank AG, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, is the Group parent.

Aareal Bank Group's business strategy focuses on sustainable business success. Environmental, social and governance aspects are therefore key elements of its business strategy. Short- and medium-term targets are allocated to all of these aspects, and the Group's medium-term strategic development is being pursued under the guiding principle of "Aareal Next Level". The general strategic orientation will be continued - with international commercial property financing on the one hand, and banking and consulting services and digital solutions for the institutional housing sector in Europe and related industries on the other.

Based on the "Aareal Next Level" strategy, individual business activities will be developed in a targeted manner in order to sharpen their own independent profiles, accelerate the Group's overall growth, and create value for shareholders and other stakeholders.

In the Structured Property Financing segment, Aareal Bank facilitates property investments for its domestic and international clients, and is active in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific region. Aareal Bank finances commercial property investments, especially for office buildings, hotels, retail, logistics and residential properties. Our focus is on financing existing buildings. By combining local market expertise with sector-specificknow-how from the Group's head office, Aareal Bank can offer financing concepts that meet the special requirements of its domestic and international clients, as well as conclude structured portfolio and cross-border financings.

Aareal Bank Group's Banking & Digital Solutions segment offers clients from the institutional housing sector, commercial property companies, and the energy and utilities sector solutions for integrated payment flow processing for housing portfolio properties in particular. This helps improve the efficiency and sustainability of its clients' basic business processes. The Group's BK01 software offers a proprietary automated settlement procedure for handling mass payments in the German property industry. The procedure is integrated in licensed ERP systems. In conjunction with payment transactions processed via Aareal Bank's account systems (BK@1), deposits are generated that contribute significantly to Aareal Bank Group's refinancing base. Besides the German property industry, the German energy sector forms a second major client group of the segment for the services mentioned above. Other services that the segment provides to these sectors include its digital security deposit solutions, end-customer communications offerings and AI-driven invoicing and payment reminder solutions. The Banking & Digital Solutions segment includes the Aareal Bank AG subsidiaries collect.AI and plusForta.

In the Aareon segment, the Aareon subgroup's property management system offers clients in the European property industry software as a service for automated, networked end-to-end processes. This gives Aareon a strong position in the countries concerned (Germany, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain), where it supplies ERP systems to clients, helping them on their way to greater digitalisation. In addition, its "Aareon Connect" open ecosystem gives clients easy access to a wide range of specialised third-party services, allowing them to build their own, tailor-made digital ecosystems. Enhancing its property management system to provide a constant stream of additional user-driven and forward-looking functions is a key priority for Aareon. This is why the company is investing heavily in research and development with the goal of further upgrading its solutions, and is continuously driving digitalisation and value creation in the sector.

Atlantic BidCo GmbH's ("Atlantic BidCo") voluntary public takeover offer for Aareal Bank AG closed in May 2023. In October 2023, Atlantic BidCo published a public delisting acquisition offer for all outstanding shares of Aareal Bank AG, offering € 33.20 per share. Following delisting, Aareal Bank shares have not been traded on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since the end of November 2023. After the delisting acquisition offer was completed in December 2023, Atlantic BidCo GmbH, which holds >95 % of the shares in Aareal Bank AG, submitted a demand pursuant to section 327a (1) of the AktG that the General Meeting

1. See also the "Fundamental Information about the Group" section of the Group Management Report in Aareal Bank Group's Annual Report 2023 for a description of the business model.

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should adopt a resolution to transfer all shares held by the minority shareholders to Atlantic BidCo against payment of an appropriate cash compensation (squeeze-out under the AktG). Atlantic BidCo has indicated that it will inform Aareal Bank of the amount of cash compensation in a further letter (a so-called "specified demand") once this has been determined.

Cooperation between Aareal Bank Group and Atlantic BidCo is based on the Investment Agreement entered into in 2022. In the latter, the Bidder commits to supporting Aareal Bank AG's strategic ambitions to strengthen its position as a leading international provider of property finance, and of software, digital solutions and payments services. Risk-aware growth in all three segments will be facilitated by investments and by pooling the extensive joint experience in the financial services, software, and payments sectors.

Sustainability management at Aareal Bank Group

Environmental, social and governance topics have been embedded in all relevant areas of Aareal Bank Group. Among other things, this includes anchoring quantitative and qualitative ESG goals at Group level, taking ESG aspects into account in risk management, and providing ESG-compliant products on both the asset and the liability sides of the business (these products are also referred to in this report as "green"; see e.g. section 1) "Environmental matters - Green lending and green funding"). Aareal Bank Group's various ESG activities are discussed in greater detail under the individual matters.

Aareal Bank Group's sustainability management activities are directed by the Group parent, Aareal Bank AG. Consequently, the descriptions of the management approaches for the five aspects mentioned above apply both to the parent company and to the subsidiaries. Where specific sustainability management issues exist, we draw attention to these in the relevant places. The Group Sustainability Officer is responsible for centrally coordinating sustainability management activities. He reports directly to the Chairman of Aareal Bank AG's Management Board, who has overall responsibility for Aareal Bank Group's sustainability strategy. In addition, regularly addressing and discussing ESG topics and questions is a fixed component of Management Board and Supervisory Board meetings.

ESG & Innovation, an organisational unit that was specially established to enhance sustainability activities throughout the Group, is responsible for the content in these cases. This unit serves as the central contact point for internal and external stakeholders, and ensures that Aareal Bank Group's sustainability credentials are presented transparently outside the Group in its reporting for clients, investors and other stakeholder groups. In addition, the unit represents Aareal Bank Group on and in external bodies and working groups. It is assigned to the Group Strategy division, reflecting the increasing strategic importance of the ESG topic area to Aareal Bank Group's sustainable corporate success. It is assisted in its work by experts from a variety of other departments within Aareal Bank AG. In addition, Group subsidiary Aareon has its own experts that are progressing this subject area. Aareal Bank AG coordinates Group-wide sustainability activities internally via an ESG Expert Group, which generally meets every month under ESG & Innovation's leadership, on the one hand and via the Green Finance Committee on the other. The two bodies play different roles:

• The ESG Expert Group is an overarching body in which Aareal Bank AG's ESG experts address strategically relevant ESG topics, and is led by the Group Sustainability Officer. The body also serves as a forum for introducing new regulatory developments relating to ESG to Aareal Bank AG and to continually promote interdisciplinary sharing of ESG information by the divisions.
• The Green Finance Committee generally meets once a month, plus on an ad hoc basis as necessary. It is responsible for manag- ing the pool of green assets (loan receivables) underlying green capital market products (bearer bonds).

Materiality analysis pursuant to the CSR-RUG

We review the results of our materiality analysis annually, so as to accommodate the effects of external events and changing requirements on the part of our stakeholder groups appropriately and at an early stage. The results of last year's materiality analysis were confirmed for this report. The reporting focuses on material issues within the meaning of section 289c (3) of the HGB, i.e. all information needed for an understanding of the Group's course of business, results and position, and of the impact of its business

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activities on the five aspects mentioned in the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch - HGB) (environmental matters, employee matters, social matters, respect for human rights, and anti-corruption and bribery matters).

Under the HGB provisions valid for financial year 2023 (including the requirements introduced by the CSR-RUG), the materiality analysis must be used solely to report on those non-financial aspects that are material from both perspectives (i.e. financial materiality and impact materiality). Following the publication of the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the principle of double materiality is required to be applied to reporting periods starting from 1 January 2024 onwards. This means firstly that reporting companies must analyse their business activities' environmental and social impact ("impact materiality"). Secondly, they must analyse the risks and opportunities to which the company is exposed as a result of a variety of sustainability aspects and how these affect its financial position ("financial materiality"). Under the CSRD, sustainability aspects will be considered to be material in future as soon as they are classified as material from either one of the two perspectives.

The definition of materiality given in the CSR-RUG was used for the purposes of preparing this report for financial year 2023. In preparation for the CSRD reporting requirements that will apply to its reporting from financial year 2024 onwards, a materiality analysis using the future requirements was performed for Aareal Bank Group in financial year 2023. This ensured that the materiality analysis process has been adapted to future regulatory requirements. The CSRD requires undertakings to engage with the stakeholder groups that are relevant for the undertaking when making their assessment of various sustainability aspects. These include stakeholders that are either impacted by Aareal Bank Group's business activities or that have a credible interest in the Group's non-financial reporting. Aareal Bank Group performed the double materiality analysis required by the CSRD together with internal experts. These formulated and assessed (potential) impacts, risks and opportunities relating to a number of sustainability aspects (environmental, social and governance topics). They also represented the views of the internal and external stakeholder groups that were identified as relevant during the assessments.

	FREQUENTLY
stakeholders*	TO SOME EXTENT
Specified by our	RARELY

ACTION AREAS
	Risk	Sustainable
	business model
ESG	management
offerings
	Transparency
	Corporate
	integrity	Client focus
	An attractive
	employer

MEDIUM

HIGH

EXTREMELY HIGH

Importance for the Company's success

* Clients, investors, employees, analysts, rating agencies, supervisory authorities, political entities, associations, etc.

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Reconciliation of action areas to relevant issues

We have assigned the material issues as defined by section 315c (2) of the HGB in conjunction with section 289c (2) of the HGB that underlie our action areas to the statutory aspects at a content level as follows:

Key action areas

Future-proof business model

Risk management

Client focus

Corporate integrity

Attractive employer

Transparency

ESG offerings

Material issues

Economic performance

Strategy implementation

ESG risk management

Client relationship management

Tools, processes and rule books

Human Rights Guidelines

Workforce structure

Remuneration

Staff training and development

Staff development (including succession planning)

Company benefits and flexibility

Internal dialogue formats

Employee health and safety

ESG ratings

Environmentally sustainable property quality

Resource efficiency in operations

Green lending

Green funding

Digital solutions to social challenges

Smart buildings

Information security and data protection

Section of non-financial report

1. Social matters

1. Social matters ("Risk reporting" section)

1. Social matters

1. Anti-corruptionand bribery matters/

1. Respect for human rights

1. Respect for human rights

1. Employee matters

1. Employee matters

1. Employee matters

1. Employee matters

1. Employee matters

1. Employee matters

1. Employee matters

1. Environmental matters/ 3. Social matters

1. Environmental matters

1. Environmental matters

1. Environmental matters

1. Environmental matters

1. Environmental matters/ 3. Social matters

1. Environmental matters

1. Anti-corruptionand bribery matters

Risk reporting

The Risk Report that forms part of our Group Management Report1) provides comprehensive information on our risk management system and the risks associated with our business activities, products and services, and business relationships that have been identified for Aareal Bank Group.

The growing importance of ESG topics holds manifold opportunities, yet also involves risks. New laws, regulations and administrative requirements, along with market and technology trends, have contributed to a significant rise in the demands made on banks' risk management operations in recent years. In line with this, banks have to take a comprehensive approach to ESG risks and to integrate these with their risk management. We define ESG risks as including overarching risks or risk drivers that are influenced directly or indirectly by environmental or social issues or by monitoring processes, and that can trigger or exacerbate existing business risks. In view of this, we have implemented an ESG risk management function and are systematically integrating ESG aspects with our risk strategy and our risk processes, methods and tools.

We have included ESG aspects in our risk management framework and our clear ESG risk governance has laid the foundations for incorporating ESG risks across the board in our processes and systems. Our end-to-end approach starts with identifying ESG risks

1. See the Risk Report that forms part of the Group Management Report in Aareal Bank Group's Annual Report 2023.

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that are included in our standard risk inventory process, is followed by their assessment and management, and culminates with their inclusion in internal risk reporting. Regulatory requirements such as the ECB Guide on climate-related and environmental risks, BaFin's Minimum Requirements for Risk Management (MaRisk) and the EBA Guidelines on loan origination and monitoring are explicitly included. Our objective in integrating ESG risks with our risk management activities is to systematically incorporate sustainability aspects into both the various (sub-)risk strategies and the ICAAP and ILAAP frameworks. In addition, ESG risk governance that is appropriate from both a workflow and an organisational perspective permits an integrated, strategic approach to sustainability. The systems for monitoring and managing ESG risks are being continuously refined.

All material sustainability risks could be classified as a form of existing financial and non-financial risks. In line with this, they are managed implicitly as part of the risk types under which they are classified. Physical climate-related risk and transition risk in terms of investor behaviour that have an impact on credit, liquidity, property and reputational risk were identified as the major short-term risk factors. This is complemented by the material mid- to long-term risk factors of climate transition risk related to technology, the risk of regulatory breaches as well as governance factors such as fraud, sustainability management and data protection. In addition, there is client behaviour as an overarching factor. The systems for monitoring and managing ESG risks are continuously refined. Suitable risk indicators and limits for climate and environmental risks are being developed for this purpose. We measure climate risks using scenario analyses and stress tests that focus in particular on evaluating the impact of both transitional and physical climate risks. They are based on the scenarios/climate pathways set out in the NGFS (Network for Greening the Financial System) or on internal shock scenarios. In addition, the climate change scenarios are supplemented by a social change scenario. The impact of the ESG scenarios on Aareal Bank AG's capital utilisation is moderate compared to the other stress test scenarios. No reportable risks as defined in section 289c (3)-(4) of the HGB were identified.

1. Environmental matters

a) Significance for our sector and our Group

Aareal Bank Group has been accompanying and supporting the sustainable transformation of the economy and society for years with its systematic approach to sustainability. We want to do our share to help meet international climate protection goals such as those set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is because, as a financial services provider focusing on the property industry, we are active in a sector that is instrumental to ESG transition.

The property sector accounts for a significant proportion of global energy consumption and resulting greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, this sector has a responsibility to realise potential savings in this area, which are substantial in some cases. ESG criteria play an increasingly important role not only in lending but also on the funding side of our business, in our investment portfolio, and in our digital product portfolio. Above and beyond this, we consider the inclusion of ESG risks as a fundamental necessity for ensuring our long-term business success. At the same time, enhancing transparency with respect to ESG aspects for the properties we finance allows us to manage our business activities in such a way that we can make a contribution to reaching international climate action efforts. In our investment portfolio, we apply these criteria both out of ethical conviction and from a risk perspective, so as to avoid any losses in value as far as possible.

In the Banking & Digital Solutions and Aareon segments, our products and services can raise our clients' environmental awareness and by so doing contribute to using digital solutions to actively and measurably cut energy usage and carbon emissions, reducing negative environmental impacts. For example, they help make processes more efficient and cut the amount of paper used in them, as well as reducing the number of kilometres travelled.

We are aware of our corporate responsibility and hence aim to help shape market developments when it comes to implementing ESG aspects. For example, we monitor political developments at national and EU level closely, contributing our expertise in this area through consultation procedures.

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OBJECTIVES:

Increase the volume of green loans in the credit portfolio: We are planning to continue expanding our green lending activities in 2024, and aim to extend an additional € 1.5 billion in green loans. For 2026, we are aiming for the total volume of green loans in our portfolio to be in the range of € 6-7billion, and hence to increase our contribution to a successful transformation.

Increase the volume of green bonds: For 2024, we are planning to continue expanding our green funding activities (an additional € 0.5 billion in long-term green funding).

Create and enhance transparency: We laid the foundations for ensuring carbon transparency in our property financing portfolio in the past financial year. We shall continue to expand this and intend to be able to report the emissions from properties financed by us in accordance with the PCAF Standard (Scope 3) in the course of 2024.

A responsible approach to natural resources and environmental protection are part of our corporate responsi- bility. At Company level, continuously cutting energy usage and avoiding carbon emissions play an important role in our internal planning and optimisation measures. What is more, we are helping transition to a more energy-efficientand lower-emissionsproperty sector with each energy-efficientbuilding and each energy-savingrefurbishment project that we finance. Our objective with these measures is to contribute to the responsible management of natural resources and to environmental protection.

Additionally, we shall completely offset the carbon emissions from our own operations for the first time in financial year 2023 by working together with a partner for offsetting projects. This covers all Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions plus those Scope 3 emissions resulting from our business travel.

b) Our management approach

Aareal Bank AG's Sustainability Management function is the central contact point for environmental matters that are relevant to Aareal Bank Group. In addition, more and more responsibilities were successively transferred to the individual divisions in recent years, and the relevant expertise established there. Aareon also has its own contacts for ESG topics. This ensures that we can take the multi-facetted group of topics that make up the "environment" into account adequately across all divisions and business processes. In addition to our own business operations, a non-exhaustive list of areas affected includes risk management, property valuation, funding and product development in the Banking & Digital Solutions and Aareon segments. Examples of initiatives and processes that illustrate how we are implementing environmental matters within our organisation are given below:

Transparency at company and portfolio level

When performing property valuations, our lifecycle analysis also includes environmental aspects such as the buildings' technical, functional and environmental quality as standard components. Our external valuers also take the locations' environmental aspects into account in the process; these include e.g. the risk of floods, storms or droughts and building-specific ESG aspects such as energy efficiency, the availability of charging stations and access to local public transport. We always take marketability and third-party usability into account when looking at sustainable property use. Quality defects such as inadequate energy efficiency negatively impact property valuations. Depending on how severe they are and how relevant for the overall appraisal (which comprises a comprehensive market, property and risk analysis), these may impact loan structuring or lead to requests for finance being rejected.

As a property financer, we share our property sector clients' responsibility to help reduce the impact made by existing housing stocks on the environment. Thorough knowledge of our financing portfolio's climate impact is a precondition for taking forward-looking,

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goal-driven decisions. This is why we decided back in 2021 to sign the PCAF Commitment Letter and to report on the carbon emissions in the commercial real estate financing portfolio that we finance in accordance with the PCAF Standard by the end of 2024 at the latest. As in the last two years, we were active in the "Commercial Real Estate and Mortgages" PCAF subgroup for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, contributing our expertise and making suggestions on how to enhance the PCAF Standard and facilitate its use.

We also continued making progress on data coverage, improving once again the availability of both our carbon data and of the input parameters (especially regarding energy efficiency) needed to calculate this. We have launched a dedicated project to achieve carbon transparency within our portfolio and publishing our first PCAF report on financed emissions. We are working on this together with a partner specialised in carbon calculations and are focusing on creating a forward-looking and stable basis for calculating the necessary carbon data at both the content-related and the technical level. Finally, going forward, we aim to use the PCAF data quality scores, which are also being implemented as part of this process, to make the quality of our carbon data even more transparent and, building on this, to develop a strategy for improving our data quality. We are also planning to publish this to our stakeholders in 2024 in the context of our first PCAF report.

Green lending and green funding

We consider our green lending products to be a core way of ensuring our business model is fit for the future. We have defined

­environmental sustainability criteria for commercial property based on our valuation expertise, our many years of experience, our property market knowledge and existing market standards. These form the basis for our "Green Finance Framework - Lending". In addition to compliance with minimum energy efficiency standards and the existence of certain high-quality building certificates, the requirements for Taxonomy-aligned buildings are considered a potential qualification criteria for green loans1). This definition was developed together with internal experts with the goal of applying it for our global operations. In the course of a second-party opinion by ESG rating agency Sustainalytics, the framework developed in this way was reviewed with regard to ambition, market conformity and suitability of the qualification criteria, and was rated as "credible and impactful". This independently certified framework serves as the basis for granted green loans. Both the criteria and the second-party opinion were updated in the reporting period.

Our green funding products supplement our green lending activities, allowing us to offer ESG-conscious clients products on both the asset and the liability sides of the business. Our suitability criteria for our liability-side products and for classifying them as "green" are as shown in our "Green Finance Framework - Lending" and were also revised during the reporting period. The "Green Finance Framework - Liabilities" underwent a second-party opinion review by Sustainalytics and was classified as "credible and impactful". An internal Green Finance Committee (GFC) manages and oversees the green asset pool underlying green issues.

Digital solutions

Our Banking & Digital Solutions and Aareon segments offer a wide range of digital solutions for the property and housing industries. In addition to time and cost savings and efficiency gains, these can also contribute to greater transparency and an improved environmental footprint. Any by doing so, they help clients cut their carbon emissions and save energy. In addition, we examine forward-looking topics and technical innovations on an ongoing basis so as to assess their potential to enhance efficiency and optimise processes and to develop new property industry solutions. Examples of products that have a positive ESG impact and that can contribute to sustainable decisions include the following:

• Aareal Meter, a digital meter management system, allows both housing enterprises and utilities to optimise their meter reading processes. Digital readings of main and secondary meters on set dates increase the quality and security of companies' meter reading data. In turn, the reduced error rate leads to lower internal effort and fewer queries by tenants. In addition, the use of digital meter management can optimise, and potentially reduce, meter reading trips. Digital readings have lower error rates, avoiding the need for additional trips to the properties concerned.

1. As at 31 December 2023, no buildings had qualified as green properties or for green loans under the Taxonomy alignment criterion.