Statutory Valuations (4th ed.)

Citation

French, N. (2011), "Statutory Valuations (4th ed.)", Journal of Property Investment & Finance, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 91-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/jpif.2011.29.1.91.1

Now in its fourth edition, Statutory Valuations has established itself as the academic and practical bible for all things “valuation and legal”. The writing team has expanded from the original author, Andrew Baum and (from Edition 2) co‐author, Gary Sams, so it now includes additional expertise from Douglas Stevens, Jennifer Ellis and Claire Hampson. As a result, an already excellent text has been improved substantially.

Statutory Valuations, in its broadest sense, is an odd subject. Not because of the subject area but because so many valuers see that the topics of Leasehold Reform, Taxation, Rating, Compulsory Purchase (CPO) and Planning Compensation as subsidiary or peripheral to the work that they do. To me, these topics are core elements of the valuers' role and a sound and insightful understanding of the valuation ramifications of various laws and statues, should be an important string of a valuer's bow.

Maybe, part of the problem lies in education. Over the last few years the number of programmes (in the UK) that teach statutory valuations has decreased. Landlord & Tenant, Rating and CPO, in particular, are minimised to make room for “investment” and “finance”. And whilst the latter are integral to an understanding of property, we should not forget that all cash flows flow from legal agreements not bricks and mortar. Tax payments are based on the property values and CPO, which is experiencing a revival with the Olympics and fast train lines, is totally integral to the Market Value of the asset. This text should be an integral part of the syllabi of all valuation modules.

The book is divided into three sections; Part 1 deals with Commercial and Residential Property; Part 2 looks at National and Local Taxation whilst Part 3 concerns itself with Compulsory Purchase and Planning Compensation.

One of the best things about this book is the writing style. It is easy to read, easy to follow and provides a clear commentary on the respective topics. It is easy to understand why this easy style would apply in single authorship (Baum, himself is one of the most proficient and most able writers in the genre) but to get this to work so well with multiple authors is a credit to the editorial work of publishers. The other strength of this test is that it is accessible. Law texts for all their benefits often suffer from being formulaic and too academic. This book is practical and applied. The case studies add to this effect and overall the reader is given a window into the professional world of each author and is left with a clear belief that the authors are imparting their own knowledge born of years of experience to help more people understand the subject area.

The book itself is comprehensive yet appreciates its position as a “port of first call” and is fully referenced, both to other texts and, more importantly, the original statutes. As a result, I would urge any valuer, in any area of work, to have this text on their shelf.