Chartered Surveyors

As Valuations form arguably the largest aspect of a general practice Chartered Surveyor’s services, each of The Commercial Property Hub’s teams of Chartered Surveyors comprise a number of RICS Registered Valuers, with a significant number being highly active and valued members of a number of bank valuation panels, providing valuations for property assets covering everything from land appraisals to single units to large, diverse portfolios across the UK. Our surveyors are regularly tasked with providing extensive Valuations services for a variety of reasons depending upon the specific needs of the particular client.

Client’s utilising our Valuations services come from the following industries:

• Banks
• Property Funds
  
  • Pension
  • SIPPs
  • SSAS
• Institutional Investors
• Wealth Management Funds
• Finance Institutions
• High Net-Worth Individuals
• Corporate Businesses
• Solicitors
• Bridging Financiers
• Insurance Brokers & Underwriters
• Accountants
• Insolvency Practitioners & Administrators
• Loss Adjusters
• Business Owners
• Private Investors
• Social Housing Associations

When assessing the valuation of any property-based asset, our RICS Registered Valuers usually undertake one of the three usual methods to provide an accurate valuation of the asset in question:

• Full site inspection and survey
• Desktop survey
• Drive-by survey

In addition to providing core valuations for our various clients, at The Commercial Property Hub, our survey services also extend to ensuring clients (depending on which side of the fence you are currently sitting) can either generate higher yields via the provision of detailed rent reviews, or conversely, negate any proposed additional costs by way of a rent increase that our client may have been notified is coming.

Our surveyors are experts at arguing both sides of the coin depending on the needs of the client at any given time. Our rent reviews and appeals teams routinely advise clients on everything from lease renewals and extensions to lease valuations, lease regearing (often seen as a win-win for both parties, largely from the added security they can both enjoy) and even sinking fund accruals. In setting up a sinking fund using an interest bearing account, our team can assist both landlords and leaseholders to pre-plan for any shared capital expenses that may ultimately affect both, by accurately apportioning costs that would be set aside to cover future expenses, which could be as simple as replacing the communal door entry system or communal lighting systems to ensuring there is enough money to cover any major repairs such as enabling access roads and drainage systems are maintained to permit fully accessible business premises.

Obviously, pre-planning is at the forefront of the setting up any sinking fund, as is having a detailed understanding of both the client’s needs, along with the specific asset in question. Sinking funds, when applied in the correct manner, can serve to safeguard both landlord and leaseholders by mitigating the risks of incurring expensive unplanned repair costs by virtue of foresight and ensuring they are spread out and covered as part of the overall service charge.
Similar to lease experts, the individuals that form part of The Commercial Property Hub’s general practice survey services Ratings and Appeals teams are more than happy to argue on behalf of any client facing an increase during the any re-assessment of their business rates liabilities, with both our individual surveyors and the whole team as a collective, possessing extensive experience of having successfully appealed increased business rates valuations adjudged to have been unfairly imposed on their properties via the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), resulting in the overturning of a number of valuations once this unfairness had been ably demonstrated by our rates and appeals teams.

As part of our core general practice survey services, the Chartered Surveyors at The Commercial Property Hub are adept at providing a host of solutions including producing accurate schedule of dilapidations survey reports, be they interim or terminal when assisting landlords in getting their property assets returned to the original state/format they were in following the end of a lease and where necessary (and there are no conflicting interests), we can act on behalf of any tenant seeking to minimise their cost and expenditure having received a perceived unfair schedule of dilapidations via schedule negotiation.

As already touched upon, the Chartered Surveyors who provide their expertise through The Commercial Property Hub, have derived more than a little experience and ultimately, knowledge, throughout the their careers to date. In fact, their experiences, allied to the significant personal contributions they have made to their profession has resulted in a number having been designated as an Expert Witness in their fields.

At The Commercial Property Hub we have a number of recognised experts who regularly provide their expert advice, along with full reports and evidence to the courts to aid resolutions to disputes across a number of areas, notably:

• Valuations
  
  • Land Disputes & Tribunals
  • Matrimonial
  • Property
• Leases
• Ratings
• Commercial Property
• Japanese Knotweed
• Landlord & Tenant
  
  • Housing Disrepair & Section 11 claims

When acting in their capacity as Expert Witness, our Chartered Surveyors ensure they fully adopt and comply with the requirements of the Civil Procedure Rules and RICS Practice Statement and Guidance
Note – “Surveyors acting as expert witness”.

As an interesting point of note, our Japanese Knotweed Expert Witness played a pivotal role in proving Japanese Knotweed can cause significant residual diminution in value of a property in the current leading case of Williams and Waistell v National Rail Infrastructure Limited 2017, when acting as Expert Witness for Mr Williams.

Whilst highlighting the range of expertise clients can readily access when working with The Commercial Property Hub, this seems to be a suitable juncture to advise prospective clients of the crucial role a former FRICS Chartered Surveyor, with very close ties to a survey team of The Commercial Property Hub, played in the formulation of the RICS Agricultural Procedures and Practice guide. These guidelines are still followed by members of the RICS, in addition to being used in training materials for students who wish to explore this diverse field today.

In rounding up the core solutions line up available through our general practice survey services, it would be remiss of us to forget our Agency and Property Management teams. At The Commercial Property Hub, we are pleased to advise that a number of our Chartered Surveyors are accomplished in dealing with all Agency and Property Management matters, as can be testified by their current status of Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (FNAEA) for Commercial and Residential property sales, in addition to offering fully-fledged member status of the Association of Residential Lettings Association (ARLA), which we believe adds a little credence to our claims, especially when taking into account these same members still operate as practising Chartered Surveyors.

The last string to The Commercial Property Hub’s in-house line up of general practice survey services falls to our Energy Performance Certificates or EPCs team. Our EPCs team are experts in providing comprehensive energy performance certificate audits, which then allows them to provide the valid Energy Performance Certificate, required by the law. The EPC audit ultimately permitting them to provide accurate estimations for aspects such current energy usage, along with the expected CO2 emissions of the asset in question and apportion a relevant recognised rating.

Their in-depth experience of auditing property assets of every type and description enables them to provide any potential purchaser or leaseholder with an innate ability to recommend practical improvements that should serve to increase both the energy efficiency, whilst also reducing energy waste. This ability to generate an improved rating is especially important following the legal changes that came into force on April 1st 2018, whereby it became unlawful to rent out any commercial property which had received a rating of n F or G, without a valid exemption.

The Commercial Property Hub’s teams of Chartered Surveyors can provide you with expertise in the following areas:

• Site Survey & Inspection
• Valuations
• Rent Reviews & Appeals
  
  • Leases
    
    • Renewals
    • Valuations
    • Regearing
    • Sinking Fund Accruals
• Ratings & Appeals
• Expert Witness
  
  • Valuations
    
    • Land Disputes & Tribunals
    • Matrimonial
    • Property
  • Leases
  • Rating
  • Commercial Property
  • Japanese Knotweed
  • Landlord & Tenant
    
    • Housing Disrepair & Section 11 claims
• Agency
• Property Management
• EPCs

One of our multi-disciplined survey teams is headed up by a Chartered Surveyor, who is also a registered LPA Receiver. Another key member of this particular team is an Asset Manager with extensive experience of maximising the value of property assets. In their capacity as a Chartered Surveyor, this team were originally tasked to provide a valuation for an asset a client was holding with a view to a quick sale.

This team of Chartered Surveyors valued the asset and appraised its true current market value to be lower than the figure the client was seeking to recoup.
Owing to the nature of their work, they came up with a number of ideas they believed would actively boost the value of the asset. They presented their proposals to the client and outlined how they would work in their favour. Having looked at the figures, their client agreed with their proposals and instructed them to implement their suggestions.

The suggestions they proposed included inexpensive cosmetic work, undertaken by registered contacts from their own network, the appointment of new client oriented managing agent, again from their network, in addition to a host of other small changes they instigated themselves. They then marketed this asset to their own clients, as well as using their extensive networks to promote the property asset.

The client went from perusing offers significantly below the figures he was simply looking to recoup to being in a position to turning away offers approximately 340% higher than he originally sought to recover!

This project team increased both the capital value of the asset, whilst also opening up the potential to generate significant increases in the yields by increasing the occupancy levels to maximum capacity. It also goes to demonstrate the benefits that multifunctional teams can add to any project, especially if they are required to tap into their extensive network of contacts. Needless to say, the client was pretty happy and this surveyor is one of the first people that client approaches today.