Tag Archives: RICS

Oct 14 2010

Non-existent customer service

At the risk of a series of recent grumpy old man rants, I can’t let this story go.

My youngest son, Jack passed his driving test at the weekend; after four months of lessons. But the journey there has been ‘interesting’ and the test was not a great experience.

He had a test booked three weeks ago, arrived at the test centre at the appointed time to be told that it had been cancelled. They asked him quizzically ‘didn’t you get our letter?’ Guess what – he hadn’t. Why would he have turned up at the test centre? The test centre claim to have sent a letter moving the test to a date in November, but they also had a phone number which they didn’t bother calling. So, a nervous night before and wasted money for the previous lesson.

Apparently this happens. Two of Jack’s friends have had this happen.

His test on Saturday was a happy affair – he passed. Well it was happy after the event. The examiner was someone who clearly didn’t like people. She was direct bordering on rude. Her claim that there were ‘no trick questions’ didn’t need to be said if the question was clear? I am not sure why people do this sort of job if they are not able to communicate with people. A sense of humour doesn’t go amiss. This isn’t the Brain Surgery professors exam. She had left her charm at home.

I blogged last week about the final test for the RICS – you need some empathy with people. They are nervous, they are under pressure. The tests we put people through in all walks of life are to see that people are capable of demonstrating what they have learned.

We don’t need to make it a painful and frightening experience.

At the end of the day Jack passed – he got seven ‘minor’ faults. But despite the examiners attempts she couldn’t find anything to fail him on. I’m sure she failed in her attempt…

People without these basic people skills shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near people…

Oct 6 2010

The final hurdle…

For the last few years I have been a Licenced Final Assessor for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). I sit as part of a panel of three and we are the final hurdle for students to ‘gaining their letters’.

My papers for the Autumn group have arrived in the last week – we get to assess four candidates – in one day. Each assessment lasts one hour – including a ten minute formal presentation by the candidate. They are then tested on their chosen competencies. My ‘specialities’ include landlord & tenant, valuation and management – although I have also examined on Rating and agency.

My involvement does two things – it forces me to keep up to date – I need to be able to test students on current issues and practices. But we also employ a number of graduate surveyors in the firm – it helps me to help them understand and de-mystify the process.

Candidates either ‘pass’ or are ‘referred’ – ‘fail’ is politically incorrect. The bar is reasonably high – we do expect candidates to know their chosen subject. The pass rate is around 65%.

Generally speaking the standard is good, but sometimes we come across candidates who simply don’t make the mark. In some ways it is not their fault as they have been signed off by two qualified surveyors and you cannot help but wonder sometimes what they were thinking…

I do feel for some of the students, there is a tremendous pressure on them. We try to calm nerves, but so often I think it is the nerves that actually let them down.

Other times it’s the things they say – like “let me take a wild guess” – one of my favourites! I was thinking, “Oh please don’t”. He did. And got it wrong. Refer.

I didn’t enjoy my interview – which was in the dark ages of 1989. I can still recall the whole nightmare!

We are often accused in society of dumbing down exams. In fact I think the test is harder today than when I sat. I think today’s students have more to learn and absorb. But the real difference is that they can’t just learn it – they must be able to apply their knowledge – and this is where the vast majority fall down.

May 27 2010

Maths and surveying and mortgages

I was interested in a leading article published by the President of the RICS, Max Crofts in this months RICS Business magazine. The thrust of his argument was that employers have told him that in the UK surveyors numerical skills are below the standard of those in Europe and way behind those in Asia.

Obviously maths are a key part of our work. We rely quite heavily on computers and calculators to g help with the maths. But, hopefully we only use the maths as a means to an end. It has often been said that valuation is an art not a science. Max’s view is that valuation is a craft…honed by years of experience.

And then I was listening to Radio 4 at lunchtime yesterday – You and Yours carried a story about the possibility of Mortgage lenders making applicants take a basic mathematical skills test! Winifred Robinson was put on the spot by Prof. Stefan Mayer in the USA with the following test questions:

1. A shop sells all items at half price. A sofa was£300 – how much it is now?
2. If the chance of getting a disease is 10%, in a group of 1000 people – how many people will get ill?
3. Second hand car is for sale at £6000 it is 2/3 rd the price it was when new. What was the new price.
4. If 5 people all have the winning lottery ticket – and the total prize is £2m – how much does each get?
5. You have £200 in an account and it earns 10% pa interest – how much would you have at the end of two years.

Easy really? Well, easy when you are not under pressure, but live on the Radio, with no paper to scribble on, Winifred had to work through the questions – especially the fourth one!

Apparently there was a frightening correlation between people who do badly with the maths test with mortgage default! This followed a study of the American sub-prime market by Columbia University.

I can’t see applicants being at all keen to do the test – especially surveyors!

May 9 2010

Education wins!

I spent an evening last week as a guest of Lisa Pilkington of the Estates Gazette at the RICS east midlands dinner at The Belfry Hotel in Nottingham.

The Roundhouse in Derby

This was essentially an awards ceremony – celebrating great buildings in the region. The event was hosted by Lucy Kite and she announced winners:

The Building Conservation Award – Stoke Rochford Hall (refurbished after damage by fire)
Community Benefit Award – The Leicester Grammar School
Regeneration Award – The Roundhouse at Derby College
The Sustainability Award – The Branston Food Factory

These were the sector winners – but one goes forward to the national finals – and this was The Roundhouse.

It is a great building – which comprises a refurbished circular building (the clue was in the name) and a new teaching block. The original building was a rail shed built in 1839 – home to steam engines at one time. The scheme cost £43m – and was one that managed to get ahead of the LSC funding debacle. It is dedicated to vocational and Btec courses such as ICT, Construction, Engineering, Hair & Beauty, Art & Design & Catering & Hospitality. As part of the Hair & Beauty faculty, the Roundhouse incorporates the fully featured Sensi hairdressing salon.

It was a deserved winner.

It is good to see a Further Education College winning an award and having a really good campus. It is a pity so many colleges missed out. This was the second education building which had award winning status as I blogged about yesterday! I am sure NTU will be on the prize podium next year….

Dec 7 2009

Valuation – a tricky art!

It is not an exciting part of what I do – most of us would rather be ‘doing deals’ – buying, letting or selling. But much of what I do revolves around valuation for clients. At the moment it may not be exciting, but it is certainly interesting and challenging! As you might expect providing advice on what something is worth in the current market can be tricky. And there are quite stringent rules about the valuation in the form of something we lovingly called ‘The Red Book‘.

Getty Los Angeles - cost $1bn, but what's it worth?


The methods of valuation are varied, but by far the most used is the comparables basis – which is as simple as it sounds – you get ‘evidence’ of other deals which you compare to the subject property. The art is in making adjustments! So you can value your house easily if you know that the one two doors down sold for ‘x’ – but you have a conservatory and a bigger garden, so your must be worth ‘x+’. Easy.

But what happens when there are few transactions – or worse still none? Or that those transactions are from 18 months ago – before the ‘crash’? Then it gets a bit tricky.

The RICS give some guidance about ‘valuing in uncertain times‘ – which is quite helpful on a technical level. But actually the client still needs a number on which he can rely. After all, that is what they are paying for! And we often have a dilemma – the gap between expectation and reality can be quite significant. Bad news is not easy to sell. We also have one eye on our Insurance policy – which protects us if the value we report is ‘negligent’.

Last week I valued some land which might in the future be suitable for residential development. But there is no Planning Consent in place for it. Nor is there really a market for residential land at the moment – the house-builders are slowly getting back on their feet, but they have no appetite for big deals. The residential market (end users) is patchy. But my client needed a valuation figure on the land to see if there was justification to proceed on another deal…

It would be all too easy to slash the figures, but that too can be wrong – and sometimes could be seen to be negligent (although harder to prove).

So we give an opinion of value – and as one of my old University mates told me ‘we can only do a snapshot’. He is right, the market is moving so quickly. And next year could be as tumultuous again with a General Election looming. But you can only give an opinion as you feel on the day.

Years ago, I heard a great statement (and annoyingly I cannot recall who by) which said ‘you are paid for your opinions not your doubts‘. I think this is a great maxim for our profession, especially at the moment.

Nov 14 2009

To what degree?

It’s been a week of education in the spotlight.

Against a backdrop of 44% of Graduates in the dole queue, the Degree has found its way into the news.

Jade Garratt

Bright Oxford Graduate with degree (aka my daughter Jade)


From 2013 all would-be nurses will have to complete a three-year nursing degree, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Government have announced. I am not sure that this is entirely a good thing. I had thought Nursing was about ‘caring’ first and foremost. I wonder if we are slowly turning Nurses into Doctors – if so I am guessing they won’t be paid quite so much. Not that I have an issue with Doctors pay – just with pushing more responsibility onto Nurses – who, in my view, are not paid enough.

I am a Licenced Assessor for the RICS which means that I (with two other Assessors) stand between a candidate being able to call themselves a Chartered Surveyor and a dreaded ‘referral’ – in old money a ‘fail’. The basic entry point is a Degree, but the real test on the assessment day is not just a test of knowledge – but how to apply that knowledge. It never ceases to amaze me that some of the best paper candidates turn out to be quite average on the day. The mix of knowledge and application is critical.

I also heard Desert Island Discs in the week with Anthony Julius – the lawyer who famously represented Princess Diana in her divorce from Prince Charles. When asked about what made a good lawyer, I though his answer rang true. He said that the ‘intelligence’ part (measured by Degree?) was a given. But what shone? Good judgement was the answer. An ability to look beyond the current problem and think through the clients short, medium and long term positions.

I spend most of my day making judgements – and so often have to weigh up ‘commercial realities’. Sometimes they may go against the technical legal position, or even against ‘fairness’. So often we can get bogged down in the detail – so stop seeing the bigger picture.

My point is that a Degree in certain business or other work scenarios may be the starting point – but actually what counts is what Anthony Julius said – it’s good judgement. And that is difficult to teach. But in nursing, the judgement call might be when someone needs some care. I hope that the nurses who are good at caring are not put off by the apparent need to get an education to this level! That would be a shame. I am not knocking those who do get a degree!

We have become a society obsessed with teaching to test. Sometimes we should appreciate that vocational work has as much to offer – even if it is different to the academic approach. And nursing, I think, is first and foremost a vocation.