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Reviews some ideas pertinent to the current debate about the aims of professional education, and focuses on some of the problems attached to attempts to incorporate the development of practice skills in curricula. Argues for a clearer understanding of what constitutes practical knowledge in use and for the development of activities to explore this. Demonstrates this from the perspective of chartered general practice surveyors, from whom the bulk of the UK property management and valuation profession is drawn.

This paper identifies that the methods used to quantify the financial risk of appraisals of private sector projects for primary health care development have been inadequate. Data was collected and analysed from private developers on 18 schemes, varying by scale and location. It is argued that this is important for those involved with facilities management as well as those directly involved with the financial risk appraisal of a PFI/PPP project. Financial risks are more likely to arise when certain build designs are used which make projects more susceptible to particular risks. The paper makes recommendations on the appraisal of future projects for value for money reflecting the risk transfer achieved and devising a common, systematic format to provide consistency and standardisation. It concludes, however, that systems should not be formulated which might act as disincentives to the private sector, or impose increased workloads on the public sector in assessing proposals.

A series of experiments were conducted to examine valuation behaviour in the UK, the USA, and New Zealand (NZ). Professional valuers from all three countries participated in the study whose findings support the notion that the US normative model is cognitively demanding and that greater departures from it result in reduced cognitive effort. The study also concluded that subjects from cultures requiring disclosure (USA and NZ) examined a significantly greater number of sales than did subjects from the UK where disclosure is uncommon. Finally, while valuers perhaps ought to increase sales search in unfamiliar markets, this research revealed no evidence that they do so. These findings are consistent with the need to seek cognitive efficiency and reduce cognitive effort even at the expense of performance quality.

The literature on investor decision‐making behaviour in property investment is sparse, loosely integrated and focused principally upon large, institutional investors. It reflects rational, normative models that treat investor behaviour as highly structured and formalised. By contrast, behavioural psychology suggests that individuals frequently act sub‐optimally. These ideas have been explored in financial decision making and have been found in the actions of property valuers and property lenders. This paper addresses this neglected area of property investment decision‐making. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with a sample of property investment directors of smaller property companies. The interviews investigate the decision‐making structures in these companies, the process by which investment strategy is formulated, the investment “screening” process and the determinants of purchase/sell decisions. The findings are discussed and related to the literature on decision making under uncertainty.

Describes an attempt to predict the value of private properties in the Stafford area from information typically available about the properties’ physical characteristics and location. Discusses the factors influencing property values, including the complicating effect of location, and attempts to build a predictive model using the statistical technique of multiple regression analysis, based on physical characteristics only and ignoring the effect of location. Makes further refinements to the predictions produced by incorporating an additional location effect modelled by means of surface‐fitting techniques within a geographical information system. The results, many of which are presented graphically, are shown to be a significant improvement on the location‐blind model. Offers suggested directions for further research and development of the technique.

Explains that bias in human problem‐solving behaviour may sometimes conflict with the assumptions that underlie normative models of valuation. Possibilities include faulty perceptions of the task, routinized valuation procedures that rely heavily on pending sale price‐knowledge and reliance on innate and distorting problem‐solving heuristics. Describes an experiment conducted with appraisers in the USA and valuers in the UK to investigate the impact of price knowledge on the process of valuation and the search and selection of comparable sales. Concludes that both appraisers and valuers can be subject to price‐knowledge bias, reflected in the choice of the less than “best” comparables and in the actual value estimate. Discusses how cultural differences in the appraisal and valuation processes, especially in the transparency of comparables adjustments, help to explain these effects.

This study seeks to provide a review of the background and context to the engagement of RICS members with the sustainability agenda, and to examine the extent to which the surveying profession uses relevant information, tools and techniques to achieve the key objectives of sustainable development (or sustainability).

The paper analyses results from a major international online survey of 4,600 RICS respondent members, supported by 31 structured telephone interviews.

The results suggest that, although sustainability is highly relevant to RICS members' work, a lack of knowledge and expertise is making it more difficult for sustainability tools and other information to be used effectively.

The survey is based on a substantial number of responses which are broadly representative of the global RICS population. A key implication is that “laggard” faculties include the disciplines of commercial property and valuation.

The research suggests that key stakeholders must work together to provide better information, guidance and education and training to “hardwire” the sustainability agenda across RICS faculties.

This is the first truly global survey of its kind and focuses particularly on those faculties that play a major role in property investment and finance (i.e. valuation and commercial property), comparing their position with that of other faculties in an international context.

This paper is concerned as to whether it is more appropriate to use aggregate or disaggregate models in forecasting house prices using hedonic modelling. It is accepted that the implicit pricing of some of the attributes is not stable between locations, property types and ages but it is argued that this can be effectively modelled with an aggregate method. The models are developed using a dataset of nearly 18,000 transactions in the UK Midlands region in 1994. The comparative performance of these models is then considered using two approaches. Chow tests of the error differences between actual price and the price predicted by the models suggest that the submarket models lead to statistically significant, though small, improvements. A second approach, using comparison of the root mean square errors, is conducted on the models’ forecasts for a 10 per cent sample of nearly 2,000 transactions excluded from the modelling process. This shows little practical difference in the forecasting ability between the two approaches. Great care needs to be taken over sample size if a disaggregate model is used.

The UK Government’s Private Finance Initiative introduces new arrangements for the provision of buildings from which public services are delivered. These arrangements require the private sector to take on new forms of risk. Discusses the progress of the Initiative and focuses on a study to determine whether differences exist in the weighting given by different “players” to these risks. Argues that the existence of such differences would present an additional barrier to the PFI’s implementation. The findings reveal that one form of risk, namely that associated with revenue from occupancy under PFI, is viewed as both of greater importance and more uncertain than other risks. Generally, however, finds that perceptions of risk are not significantly different between the four groups examined in the study (surveyors, financiers, contractors and purchasers).