Real Estate, Infrastructure and Construction

The Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Construction sector is facing important market trends that require continuous transformation. With recent geopolitical shifts and interest rates remaining high, investment in office buildings remains slow and a gap is emerging between energy-efficient buildings - retaining their value and achieving prime rents - and buildings with poor energy ratings, which are experiencing significant devaluations. Energy performance also affects real estate financing, as banks and institutional investors tighten lending conditions under pressure from the EU Taxonomy.

In the residential market, older properties face high renovation costs due to mandatory renovation requirements, and new homes risk becoming unaffordable, with high interest charges and stricter bank requirements.

KPMG is involved in every stage of the property investment lifecycle, offering experience in working with stakeholders throughout the real estate industry. Whether your focus is local, regional, or global, we can provide you with the right mix of expertise to support your needs and ambitions - contact us to explore how we can work together.

Veerle Coussée

Partner, Head of Real Estate, Building & Construction | Tax, Legal & Accountancy

KPMG in Belgium

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Challenges & trends

M&A landscape

The M&A landscape has changed, with issues such as diversification and globalization, increased interest rates, pressure on profitability and distressed sales having an impact on the Real Estate and Construction sector.

Regulatory forces stress the industry

The implementation of new or increased regulations and intrusive supervisory scrutiny – for example, on data privacy, ESG and urban planning – are changing the regulatory landscape for the sector.

Tax and geopolitics

The tax landscape is in continuous evolution with the fight against tax evasion leading to the introduction of tax transparency and fairness rules such as DAC6. The new BEPS 2.0 rules, introducing a global minimum tax of 15%, also have a great impact on the sector.

Changing customer preferences due to health, energy, and environmental crises

COVID-19, climate change and increased social values influence customer behavior and expectations, impacting their real estate needs. Moreover, the energy crisis has put a bigger focus on energy-efficient buildings, as buildings are currently responsible for more than 50% of global electricity consumption while generating 40% of global CO2 emissions. This will place the focus more on new customer engagement and service models, as well as technology-enabled buildings.

Data-driven operational efficiency and decision-making

With digitalization at the heart of this period of rapid change, the sector must consider key areas such as data value extraction and data management, data security and cyber threats, increased traction of quantitative investment strategies and digital labor to shape the digital and sustainable real estate & workplace transformation. Data that’s being captured from new technologies, for instance within the Internet of Things (IoT), allows granular level observation, improving decision-making in real estate portfolios.

Sustainability goes mainstream

Shifting demands of customers and stakeholders have forced the sector to consider issues such as social values and responsible investing. Re-examining business models to include circular economy practices should also be considered. The race to net zero will force the real estate industry to have carbon neutral portfolios by thinking of green and less energy consuming buildings, green mobility location strategies, community projects, and disposal/retrofitting of non-sustainable assets.

Digitalization and the future of work

On another note, digital solutions for the connected workplace, leveraging AI and data analytics will guide strategic discussions with business leaders. Furthermore, developing new workplace strategies, shaping the hybrid way of working and improving customer experience will contribute to attracting and retaining talent.

Key services involved in the Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Construction sector

Legal advice and assistance with permit applications
Administrative and judicial litigation
Facilitating negotiations with authorities
Risk consulting

Regulatory

Flexible working impact assessments
Technology advisory: Operational efficiency through automation, AI, and machine learning
Smart cities, Public Procurement, and Public-Private Partnerships

Tax & accounting advice and compliance
Tax (re)structuring and tax due diligence
Assessment of DAC6 rules on Real Estate deals
Assessment of impact of BEPS 2.0 rules

Tax

Real Estate finance
Leasing, property & asset management contract negotiation
Funding & Finance

Sustainable finance (EN)

Financial, tax, legal and operational due diligence
Negotiation and structuring of deals
Merger & acquisitions

Separation & Integration

Governance & planning
Project Management
Innovation Strategy

Strategy

Asset management: data integration, analytics, and visualization
Decision-making modelling and portfolio planning
Operational efficiency
IT strategy & implementation

Data driven operational efficiency

Digital & Technology transformation
Business & Operating Model Change
Shared Services & Outsourcing

Transformation

We advise Real Estate, Infrastructure and Construction clients on a broad spectrum of issues as well as through the following integrated solutions

We believe the future enterprise will be Connected. Powered. Trusted. Elevated. Connected. Powered. Trusted. Elevated. is our definition of a digitally transformed organization. One that is connected, aligned and engineered around the customer. One that is powered by modern technology and agile business practices. One that is trusted by all its stakeholders from customers, employees, suppliers, investors and regulators.

KPMG Connected Enterprise for Real Estate is our approach to customer-centric digital transformation for the sector. It aligns your business around your customers to create a seamless, agile, digitally enabled organization that delivers better experiences and new levels of performance and value – at scale across your front, middle and back offices.

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KPMG Powered Enterprise is KPMG’s suite of services to transform your back-office functions. We bring future proof target operating models using KPMG best practices, processes and pre-configured SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms, along with advanced technology assets, for optimized processes, governance, KPIs (key performance indicators), people skills and data.

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KPMG Trusted brings together risk and regulatory services that build trust and confidence in the business and the digital transformation journey. It helps ensure that businesses can predictably navigate risk and regulation – and deliver on the promise to keep customer data trusted, safe and secure. Trusted fosters the confidence of your business and your stakeholders for continued organizational resilience.

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KPMG Elevate identifies and quantifies value-creation opportunities. We help businesses target and capture value using a data-driven approach – confidently helping to achieve measurable improvements to increase profitability and performance. We focus on what needs to change for an organization to become a successful, modern, high-performing business.

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Real Estate, Infrastructure & Construction insights

The latest need-to-know information on the Real Estate & Construction sector.

Real Estate, Infrastructure and Construction

Veerle Coussée