Activity data·Sector & specialist
How to measure emissions from Real estate
Real estate covers spend on property management, letting and agency services related to owned or leased premises, reported under Scope 3 Category 1. It is not a substitute for building-level activity - electricity, gas, water and waste each have their own dedicated page - so where a service-charge invoice bundles management fees with utilities, split it and record the utility on its physical-unit page instead.
- Scope
- Scope 3 Category 1
- What activity data you need
- $ Spend, £ Spend
- Activity data
- Sector & specialist
What counts as Real estate
Real estate services purchased by the organisation - property management, agency and letting services related to owned or leased premises - reported as spend where no more specific activity (electricity, gas, water, waste) captures the underlying building operation.
A Category 1 spend-based page for the service of managing or transacting property, not a substitute for the building-level activity pages that capture the physical operation of a site. Use this for management fees, agency fees and similar real-estate services rather than for the utilities consumed at a site, which should always be tracked on their own dedicated pages when the data is available.
How to collect the data
Use supplier or agency invoices for property management, letting or real-estate advisory services (£ or $ spend), coded from the purchase ledger. Where a service-charge invoice bundles utilities with management fees, split it so utilities are still tracked on their physical-unit pages rather than folded into this spend total.
What activity data you need
Collect the most specific physical unit available. Unit definitions are in Appendix I — Description of Units.
- $ Spend
- £ Spend
Which emission scope it falls under
Real estate activity data typically maps to Scope 3 Category 1 under the GHG Protocol. Confirm organisational boundary and ownership before reporting.
By emission scope
Compliance frameworks
Sub-types available in the platform
All 3 sub-types available in the platform.
- Real Estate Activities: Average
- Real estate activities: Owned or leased: UK
- Real estate services: Agencies: UK
Common questions
- Does this include the electricity or gas used at our premises?
- No - electricity and gas each have their own dedicated activity page. This page is only for the property management, agency or letting service itself.
- What counts as a real estate service versus a building operating cost?
- A real estate service is the fee paid for managing, letting or advising on the property. Operating costs like utilities and waste are the physical activity of running the building and belong on their own pages.
- How should we split a bundled service-charge invoice?
- Break the invoice down by line item where the supplier provides one, routing utility charges to their dedicated pages and the residual management fee here.
- Do property management fees for leased-out (downstream) buildings belong here?
- Yes - this page isn't split by upstream/downstream boundary, so management fees for buildings you lease out as landlord can also be recorded here alongside fees for premises you occupy.
- Is there a more specific page for property maintenance or fit-out spend?
- Maintenance and fit-out spend is usually closer to a construction or materials purchase than a real estate service - check whether a construction-related page fits better before defaulting to this one.
Next step
Start benchmarking your Real estate footprint
Apply matching emission factors in Compare Your Footprint and compare your footprint against sector peers.
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