All posts tagged "Expert Witness"
Statement of Agreed Facts and Comparable Evidence
(2025 Sep) – On referral and in the process of agreeing a Statement of Agreed Facts, it appears – in my experience – to be taken for granted that the SOAF will contain proforma of so-called comparable evidence even if neither party’s surveyor has had any involvement with the evidence premises. And not only reliance […]
Independent Expert – getting your money’s worth
(2025 Aug) – In my experience, RICS-appointed Independent Experts fall in one of two categories. (1) Conscientious – by which I mean the IE will measure the premises and calculate areas regardless of what the parties might’ve agreed, investigate, research and test evidence for accuracy with the person(s) involved and not merely rely on pro-forma […]
Writing aid: mediocrity at its best
(2025 May) – I underestimate how long it takes me to write a report. Wanting to be a perfectionist and being thorough makes for a demanding experience. I can ease off perfection, but not at the expense of thoroughness. In the same way, retail is detail, so is rent review. I used to use Grammarly […]
Potted history to provide a sense of place
(2025 May) – Currently, I’m acting as expert witness for a head lessee of a block of shops in a village near St Albans. It’s an unusual rent review involving a dispute with the freeholder about the amount of ground rent. Despite a previous review involving different parties, there is no documentation on how the […]
A chartered surveyor should be able to read?
(2025 May: LinkedIn) – (1) Please correct me if this is wrong, but I think that a person with a professional qualification, MRICS or FRICS, should be able to read. The landlord’s surveyor (FRICS) had referred to the RICS for the appointment of an arbitrator. The appointed asked the landlord’s surveyor for a copy of […]
Expert Witness Lip service
(2011 Mar) I have become so fed up with chartered surveyors paying ‘lip service’ to the RICS Practise Statement and guidance Notes for chartered surveyors acting as expert witness at rent review but ignoring the substantive provisions that I am going to make formal complaints to the President of the RICS. In one case recently, […]