The beginning of the end or a new start for the RICS?
EDITOR’S COMMENT Is this the beginning of the end or the start of something new for the RICS? On Tuesday evening (27 June), EG broke the news that not only the chair of the RICS’s standards and regulation board had resigned, but the whole board.
Dame Janet Paraskeva, who had been chair of the board since its creation in 2019 and had signed up for a further three years in the post in September last year, resigned late last week, with nine other members of the board following suit.
They claim that Paraskeva was forced out for “telling the truth”, with that truth being that the SRB – set up to exercise the RICS’s regulatory functions – was treated like an “enemy rather than a regulator”.
EDITOR’S COMMENT Is this the beginning of the end or the start of something new for the RICS? On Tuesday evening (27 June), EG broke the news that not only the chair of the RICS’s standards and regulation board had resigned, but the whole board.
Dame Janet Paraskeva, who had been chair of the board since its creation in 2019 and had signed up for a further three years in the post in September last year, resigned late last week, with nine other members of the board following suit.
They claim that Paraskeva was forced out for “telling the truth”, with that truth being that the SRB – set up to exercise the RICS’s regulatory functions – was treated like an “enemy rather than a regulator”.
The RICS has a different take. It says the SRB remains a vital part of the organisation, that it needs its regulation and that members of the SRB have perhaps interpreted “the truth” in an altogether different way.
Our sources tell us that Paraskeva et al got the hump that 20 or so individuals – technical experts who help determine how the industry should operate around big issues such as cladding, valuations, sustainability, etc – were moved out of the standards and regulation division and into the main body. A move that RICS insiders tell us was vital. Subject matter experts, tasked with determining rules and regulations for surveying practice, need to be at the coalface, they say. What they suggest is and will still be governed by the SRB, insists the RICS.
What this is, however, is just another sad example of noise around the RICS. Of infighting and peacocking as everyone, everywhere thinks that what they say should go.
Since breaking the news this week – and questioning the “too many cooks” structure of the RICS in this very column last week – our inboxes at EG have pinged regularly with messages from irritated RICS members. They complain of “mushroom management”, whereby members are kept in the dark about what decisions are being made, with no option to voice their opinions; they question why they pay their dues, admitting that the only real use of the MRICS letters after their names is so banks and other institutions will recognise valuation reports. The list goes on.
I say their messages are filled with irritation, but actually they are filled with sadness. A fear that this once-esteemed institution is lost.
This industry cannot let that institution be lost. Never before has it been more vital for the real estate industry to be seen for what it really can and should be. While government fails on its ambitions to reach net zero, real estate could succeed. While government fails on levelling up the UK, real estate should succeed. While government fails to create homes for all, real estate must succeed.
So I say stop this ridiculous battle for power. Do what your members need and – to some extent – what they want.
I’m still torn on whether this latest scandal/debacle (I’ll let you choose which word is more appropriate) spells the end for the RICS or is just a plaster that needed to be ripped off to rebuild it into something better.
Change is essential at the RICS. The institution says it is working through and implementing the recommendations set out in the Bichard Review to make it functional again, but that it is taking time.
Those changes aren’t going to be liked by everyone, but, says one of my insiders, there is no time to waste. Everyone needs to get on board and align if the RICS is to make it through. This is make or break.
The RICS cannot be retrofitted. This requires a complete rebuild, and the time to do it is now.
I was going to use this column to excitedly talk about two of my favourite moments in the real estate calendar – the EG Future Leaders project and the EG Awards. This week we invited you to meet the nine individuals tasked with showcasing how diverse, exciting and purposeful this sector can be, and we have now revealed which firms will be battling it out for one (or more) of the coveted EG Awards on offer as we celebrate real estate’s successes at the Grosvenor House hotel on 17 October. Congratulations to everyone shortlisted, and a huge thank you to our amazing judges for spending hours – if not days – poring over the hundreds of entries we received for this year’s awards.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
