The government's Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is sending an observer to sit in on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyor's Standards and Regulation Board meetings in a move called "very positive" by the property industry body.
The latest development comes as RICS has battled with government over the extent of Clause 213 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, an initiative that seeks explicit powers for the Secretary of State to review the work and performance of the real estate surveying industry's professional body.
In a surprise move, a clause enabling a government review of RICS was included in the bill in May 2022 under then-prime minister Boris Johnson. The Institution immediately questioned the decision, pointing out that the under-fire institution’s Governing Council had already commissioned Lord Bichard to conduct an independent review of its governance, strategy and purpose the previous year.
Subsequently RICS appointed an interim Standards and Regulation Board after the Board resigned en masse in June 2023, throwing into doubt the implementation of the Bichard review into the global entity that sets and enforces standards for valuing, operating and developing real estate.
Those unexpected departures had come as the Institution tries to move on from a turbulent period in its history that has seen major investigations into its financial conduct and its relevance to the property industry. RICS, founded in 1868, has around 134,000 paying members with annual subscriptions of 539 pounds or about $688. A RICS qualification as a surveyor takes four years and is essential for work as a surveyor or valuer.
In a wide-ranging update on the Governing Council meeting held in March now published on RICS's website, the SRB Chair Nigel Clarke, who was appointed in late September of last year, reported that the DLUHC was now sending an observer to SRB meetings, "very positive development" in his words.
Elsewhere, the chief executive Justin Young reports that, as a result of "effective stakeholder engagement from a unified RICS leadership team, many external relationships were now in an improved position," including with the government. The RICS Board Chair Martin Samworth also highlighted the "improved relationship" with government as an example of progress.
Other significant updates include confirmation that the SRB Board has begun consulting on a Continuing Professional Development framework, as part of the work of the CPD Framework Steering Groups. The Board will put together an information session on the framework for the Governing Council, it said. At present all RICS professionals must undertake and record online a minimum of 20 hours of CPD activity each calendar year.
The SRB has also approved the final draft report of the Education and Assessment Steering Group, a document that will be published for feedback and further comment from members.
It says full recruitment to the SRB Board was now underway, with well over 200 applications received and calling the general standard of applicants very high. Recruitment for a chair of the valuation committee will start soon.
Chief executive Young also outlined 2024 delivery priorities. There were eight initiatives led by Governing Council, and Council members were invited to volunteer to act as sponsors for each of these.
- Developing additional routes of entry into the profession.
- Developing and enhancing Matrics Global and Matrics UK, the early career community.
- Exploring new processes for streamlining the Assessment of Professional Competence, some of which had to be cancelled at short notice last year.
- University accreditation.
- Embracing new communications technologies.
- Developing the value proposition for Fellows of the Institution.
- Communicating RICS transformation progress to members.
- Improving communications flow in and out of boards.
RICS’ general counsel updated on the work of a cross departmental group looking at the development of new policy and other measures to address poor actions by members and others when dealing with the RICS.
Based on previous feedback from Council, the proposal was to create a series of documents covering policy for members and non-members, guidance for staff and training.
In December, RICS committed to a "top down" review of its structure once again in 2025, as well as to pushing through the conclusions of its "Entry and Asset Review" next year, which aims to ensure the standard of entry to membership as a surveyor remains fit for purpose.