july/august 2020 8 22 32 residential commercial personal ... · develop your knowledge of these...

July/August 2020

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8ResidentialNeighbourly matters matter for property businesses

22CommercialWatch out for legionella risk in unoccupied buildings

32Personal propertyComing together to improve standards in art identification

Property

A new way of thinking about assets and portfolios

26

Digital twins

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05Economics

06Briefing

11Valuing value RICS’ Value the Planet campaign will be more important than ever in order to help our profession implement the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

14Sound activityIn order for any cultural activity to flourish, a structured system must be set up to support it

16Diversifying BIMA BIM architectural consultant describes her career path into the profession

18Legal Q&AA legal expert addresses GDPR queries

rics.org/journals 3

Property

Contents

Published by:

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors,

Parliament Square, London SW1P 3AD

T: +44 (0)24 7686 8555 W: rics.org

ISSN 2053-5732 (online)

Editorial & production manager: Toni Gill

Sub-editor: Matthew Griffiths

Advertising:

Will Nash T: +44 (0)20 7871 5734

E: [email protected]

Design & production: We Are Sunday

While every effort has been made to ensure

the accuracy of all content in the journal,

RICS will have no responsibility for any errors

or omissions in the content. The views

expressed in the journal are not necessarily

those of RICS. RICS cannot accept any

liability for any loss or damage suffered by

any person as a result of the content and the

opinions expressed in the journal, or by any

person acting or refraining to act as a result

of the material included in the journal. All

rights in the journal, including full copyright

or publishing right, content and design, are

owned by RICS, except where otherwise

described. Any dispute arising out of the

journal is subject to the law and jurisdiction

of England and Wales. Crown copyright

material is reproduced under the Open

Government Licence v.3.0 for public sector

information: nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/

open-government-licence/version/3/

The Property Journal is the journal of the RICS

Commercial Property, Dispute Resolution,

Facilities Management, Machinery &

Business Assets, Management Consultancy,

Personal Property, Residential Property and

Valuation Professional Groups

Editors: Claudia Conway (Commercial

property) T: +44 (0)20 7695 1605


Jan Ambrose (Residential property, Personal

property) T: +44 (0)20 7695 1554


Brian Ward (Interdisciplinary)

T: +44 (0)20 7334 3765 E: [email protected]

Advisory groups

Commercial property: John Baguley

(RICS), Paul Bagust (RICS), Sarah Cranke

(Faithful+Gould), Nicola Dixon-Brown

(CBRE), Martin Francis (BNP Paribas),

Charles Golding (RICS) Vivien King (Hollis),

Nigel Sellars (RICS), Paul Tonkin

(Hogan Lovells)

Residential property: Mairead Carroll

(RICS) Paul Cutbill (Countrywide), Graham

Ellis (RICS), Chris Rispin (BlueBox Partners),

Philip Santo (Philip Santo & Co), Zoe

Wahlheim (Earl Kendrick)

Residential

08The business of neighbourly mattersNeighbourly matters is an expanding area of professional practice that is of concern for all chartered surveying businesses

12The future’s bright?A recent case has illustrated how new technologies can help to measure losses of light

19Power to the peopleA new fire safety checklist will help tenants in risky residences force local authorities to take action

24Creating connections Two case studies illustrate how collaboration between technology and property businesses can work effectively

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http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence

30The right stuffA surveyor explains how using technology can help create an environment of control to deliver value for tenants

34Opening doors The current global crisis might accelerate a more flexible approach to leases across the commercial property industry

4 Journal July/August 2020

Personal property

32The art of identifying artworksA new consortium aims to foster cooperation and harness technology to improve identification of artworks and artefacts

Commercial

20Valuation step-by-stepUnderstanding the timeline of a valuation is vital to APC success in this competency

22Legionella: service interruptedAs commercial buildings look set to have low or zero occupation for extended periods, technology can help prevent Legionnaire’s disease

26Double visionDigital twins offer the opportunity for better understanding and maintenance of assets and portfolios

29The strong arm of the lawSome positive suggestions regarding the challenge of empty homes in the UK

36Healthy homesHow do we assess the risks to health in homes?

Property

Contents

rics.org/journals 5

Property Comment

The legacy of the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis was a painful experience for a substantial part of the population. The focus of the UK policy response around the programme of quantitative easing (QE) was understandable and did indeed help build a platform for economic recovery. But the absence of sustained fiscal measures to complement some of the gaps left by this approach contributed to a rise in inequality that became a feature of the political narrative over the subsequent decade. Most recently, this crystallised into the levelling up agenda that formed a critical part of the conservative party election platform, leading to their December 2019 victory.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only thrown into sharp relief the vulnerability of the economy but also pushed government intervention to centre stage in a way that couldn’t have been foreseen in the aftermath of securing a further parliamentary term in office. Even when committing in the region of £100bn to boost infrastructure spending as outlined by chancellor Rishi Sunak in the pre-lockdown Budget, it was never

envisaged that this was meant to mark the reawakening of the era of big government.

Inevitably, however, subsequent interventions to mitigate the worst excesses of the virus have pushed the Johnson administration in this direction and left the Treasury’s coffers looking threadbare, with the shortfall between spending and income likely to climb to £373bn or almost 14 per cent of GDP according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. If this projection proves to be anywhere near accurate, it would represent the biggest single year deficit since the second world war. It would also push the outstanding level of public debt back up to 100 per cent of GDP.

A key issue is how the government chooses to respond in the new environment. Does it look to the austerity years as a template for addressing the fiscal question or choose an alternative approach, acknowledging that it might be necessary to live with elevated debt levels for some time to come. It is worth recalling that public debt exceeded 100 per cent of GDP throughout the whole of the interwar period and until the 1960s, an era that

saw both periods of stronger and weaker growth. The reason I make this point is to demonstrate that government indebtedness isn’t necessarily a constraint on economic performance although it clearly can be, as numerous studies have shown.

Moreover, the fact that monetary policy is acting in conjunction with fiscal policy through the QE programme means one of the most obvious challenges presented by high borrowing levels, the rising cost of debt financing, is not apparent for now. Whether that changes will in part depend on one’s view of the possibility of inflation re-emerging as a result of the swelling in the Bank of England’s balance sheet. I am far from convinced this is a likely outcome although wouldn’t be so foolish as to say that there is not an element of risk.

Returning to where I started, in framing the policy response to this crisis, it is essential in my view that we avoid the disconnect between the financial world and what is happening in the real economy. Infrastructure spending, as already mentioned, has an important role to play, not just in meeting prior commitments made by government. Arguably as importantly, it also has the potential to be an engine of rebuilding the economy post-pandemic. However, I would suggest that this must not be done at the expense of what is loosely termed current expenditure. The classification between current and capital has always been somewhat artificial, but it seems even more so today. After all, isn’t education just a different form of long-term investment? And one might conclude similarly about health spending and other areas of the public purse.

This isn’t to say that there should be no constraint to the size of government and the level of spending or borrowing it can undertake. However, in the aftermath of the biggest contraction in the economy for more than 300 years, imaginative strategies are required that help to support all parts of the country.

Simon Rubinsohn is chief economist at RICS [email protected]

‘Will the government look to the austerity years as a template for addressing the fiscal question or choose an alternative approach?’

Economics

Simon RubinsohnChief economist, RICS



Property

Briefing

Contribute to the conversation

RICS has recently launched a new digital insight community for surveying professionals to share knowledge and insights and keep up to date with best practice. The community, open to RICS members and relevant non-member practitioners, is free to join and provides an opportunity to connect with other professionals around the world to improve knowledge sharing possibilities across the built environment.

The community has been running as a pilot since the start of the year and the conversations, which are structured into groups by sector, have covered topics such as the impact of data and technology on current working practices; sustainability measures and how the profession can adapt; the latest RICS consultations, guidance and policy; and RICS conferences and CPD events.

In light of recent events, the community has taken on an even more important role. The COVID-19 outbreak has been the subject of many conversations as professionals seek to share knowledge about how their working practices are having to evolve during the pandemic. These conversations also allow RICS to see what support our members need at this time.

We encourage you to join the platform – in the short term to seek support from your peers and colleagues during the pandemic, and in the long term to contribute to conversations about the sector and your role.

The community is hosted on the Yammer platform. To join, please email [email protected] McDermott is programme director, international standards at RICS [email protected]

Digital journals on their way

RICS is accelerating its digital transformation to create a purpose-built online platform for Modus and journals, launching with back issues and new content from later this summer. As well as saving over 55 million pages of paper per year, this will bring benefits such as searchability, greater accessibility and ease of viewing on screen. Over time more features will be added to enable a personalised approach for each member so that you can easily access the material that matters most to you. We are working hard on putting this together right now and are excited to share the results with you soon – the launch will be supported with communications to keep members informed on progress and the features that will be available to you.

rics.org/journals 7

Councils’ homelessness warning

Almost half a million households are at high risk of becoming homeless as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, analysis for the District Councils’ Network has revealed.

The DCN, which represents 187 councils responsible for tackling homelessness, is calling for the housing crisis to take centre stage in the government’s COVID-19 exit strategy in order to prevent a huge surge in homeless households as incomes fall as a result of changes to people’s employment circumstances during the pandemic.

Families at risk are likely to include lower earners that are on the frontline helping fight the COVID-19 crisis across the health, food and logistic sectors.New analysis reveals that there are 486,242 households paying over half of all their income on private rented housing, and these could be most at risk as incomes fall and the current ban on evictions is lifted.Within this large group, councils are especially concerned for:• 108,000 lone parents with children, representing 20 per cent of all lone parents renting in the private sector• 100,000 16-to-24 year olds, almost 20 per cent of all young people renting in the private rented sector• 160,000 households with incomes less than £15,000.

Despite the important additional help from the government, more people are already approaching councils at risk of homelessness. The DCN is calling on the government to take action now on the housing crisis to protect the most vulnerable and to prevent a homelessness peak in the months ahead.districtcouncils.info

Keep up to date with RICS’ responseIn order to ensure we continue to support the profession during this challenging time, RICS is closely monitoring developments and following official advice on the COVID-19 outbreak.

We encourage all members and member firms to visit and bookmark rics.org/coronavirus, which RICS is updating on a regular basis to include: • resources for candidates and

professionals • guidance on key concerns and risks • news and insight • examples of resilience from built

environment businesses • responses to frequently asked

questions.Any queries or concerns not

addressed on the site should be directed to [email protected]

Take care of your well-beingRICS is committed to supporting the mental health of its members and candidates at this unsettling time.The independent charity for RICS professionals, LionHeart, continues to offer support including free and confidential advice, financial support, professional counselling and legal advice for members.lionheart.org.uk


http://rics.org/coronavirus

http://lionheart.org.uk

districtcouncils.info


Residential property Neighbourly matters

In this article we depart from the traditional focus on professional neighbourly matters practice for individuals and address the topic from the viewpoint of a chartered surveying business. In 2019 RICS updated the suite of supporting consultant contracts and associated scopes of service for the majority of professional practice areas in England and Wales, with the intention that Scotland and Northern Ireland would be covered in the 2020 release. Historically, the party wall practice scope of service formed a section within the wider building surveying scope. However, the 2019 update has provided an opportunity for more substantive reform. Due to the expansion of neighbourly matters as a distinct discipline of practice, which is now supported by four

professional guidance notes, there was a need for a separate suite of documents. In addition, as right of light has proven a success in providing a specialist and separate pathway within the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC), the need for clearer scope of service was recognised.

While some parts of neighbourly matters are controlled under a statutory process, that does not remove the obligations that exist on all UK RICS businesses to confirm their terms of business and the method for calculation of payment terms in writing. The RICS Boundaries and Party Walls Panel has therefore used this opportunity to update and widen the historic scope to cover all business lines under the neighbourly matters heading.

Three scopes of service have been created to cover the geographic areas of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. This division is required as some neighbourly matters topics do not have full UK coverage.

The unifying areas that cross all UK national lines are boundary disputes and the technical role of reporting on design impact under the Building Research Establishment BR 209 Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: a guide to good practice, 2nd edition, published in 2011.

Neighbourly matters businesses have been early adopters of 3D computer technology with the current technical packages continuing to evolve since 1991. While the surrounding planning system

The business of neighbourly matters

Andrew Thompson and Michael Cooper

Neighbourly issues is an expanding area of professional

practice of concern for all chartered surveying businesses

rics.org/journals 9

Areas of best practice regarding the format of data capture via 3D technology is now common across the UK and this is not sensitive to local legislative changes

diverges in different areas, the technical standard of BR209 remains constant, with the software being capable of making the necessary geographic corrections within the assessment figures. Having a computer-aided design team based in West Sussex, therefore, does not prevent both UK- and Europe-wide generation of daylighting model assessment calculations with the commissioning local practitioner placing the figures into local legislative context in Manchester, for example.

Scotland differs in that there is no common law right of light, but a major site development in Scotland is still subject to overshadowing objections and may be under consideration via environmental impact assessment reports.

Northern Ireland is a more interesting situation as it does enjoy a right of light and in technical calculation terms the practice is similar. However, this similarity is deceptive and an English practitioner traveling across the water must exercise considerable caution, as similar does not mean the same. Legislation such as the Right of Lights Act exists in both the English and Northern Irish jurisdiction with both having the concept of a light obstruction notice. Yet detailed reading of the two Acts will bring out differences in the administrative details.

The RICS scope of service excludes the Republic of Ireland as it is envisaged that the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland will create their own scope, building upon their own rights of light guidance note. This difference and exclusion will be important for practices generating 3D technical models for development schemes in the Republic of Ireland. Once again, great care is required as the technical models being the same can provide a false level of comfort. Rights of light is driven by case law, and the two separate High Court jurisdictions, while starting from a common point, have departed over time.

Areas of best practice regarding the format of data capture via 3D laser scanning technology are now common across the UK and these are not sensitive the local legislative changes.

England and Wales has the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and this service line is dealt

with both in terms of wider consultancy advice and performing the duties under the legislation. A common dispute between surveyors and clients in this area occurs when the client expects that they have commissioned wider strategic consultancy and design team support when in reality they have not, and quite often design meetings to decide on party wall facilitation rights, guidance on programme, and cost risk are not part of the intended service. This support is normally excluded from a pure statutory appointment but is a common layer of additional service provided by experienced neighbourly matters practitioners and could be added to the scope of service.

In recent years, both rights of light and party walls have seen the introduction of insurance policies. This has resulted in a new type of consultancy service supporting the insurance broker or loss adjuster with the technical understanding of this specialist area of practice.

In planning, the appointment of second reviewers for daylight (sunlight) models on major schemes is now common and the new scope allows for this type of appointment by a local authority. This could be for the neighbouring property assessment or checking the calculations presented to support the fitness for human habitation checks for social housing schemes. On a similar theme, the review of daylight calculations for BREEAM, Housing Quality Mark or RICS SKA rating has also been factored into the scope.

Neighbourly matters is an expanding area of professional practice and the new scope of service has been created to support RICS members operating across the UK for the full suite of potential service offering.

In addition to the more formal guidance notes that are created for the benefit of explaining professional practice to members, the panel also supports RICS firms via the creation of public facing information leaflets. The party wall leaflet has been updated to ensure the commentary is in line with the most recent case law and the 7th edition guidance note.

Michael Cooper FRICS is director, head of neighbourly matters and building surveying at Cooper’s Building Surveyors [email protected]

Andrew Thompson FRICS is senior lecturer in building surveying, Department of Built Environment at Anglia Ruskin University [email protected]

Further information

The RICS Boundaries and Party Walls Panel is responsible for the following guidance notes:

Boundaries: Procedures for Boundary Identification, Demarcation and Dispute Resolution, 3rd edition, 2014

Daylighting and sunlighting, 1st edition, 2012

Party Wall legislation and procedure, 7th edition, 2019

Rights of Light, 2nd edition, 2011


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rics.org/journals 11

Property Sustainability

In the May/June issue of Property Journal, my colleague Joanna Lindon wrote that RICS’ royal charter requires us to ‘promote the usefulness of the profession for the public advantage in the UK and in any other part of the world’. This is a key driver for us as we work collaboratively across the built environment professions. Sometimes we lead from the front, at other times, we let our peers lead. In all cases, we know we have got to put our own house in order before preaching to a wider audience.

RICS produces professional standards, research, webinars, and training on climate action to help businesses and our members to operate in a greener way; from reducing waste, to green buildings, and training on sustainability competency. As our environment changes, so does our content.

Professionals across the built environment predict that the next decade will be the time when environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors become a business imperative, for small and large firms in equal measure. At least, this was

the conventional wisdom before we were struck by the COVID-19 pandemic. Until then, the profession was collectively deliberating about our bargaining position for the UN’s Climate Change Conference – COP26 – which was due to be held in Glasgow this November.

In a post-pandemic world, our members, particularly SMEs, will need our support more than ever before. Enacting ESG business practices will be one of several areas of importance. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), cities and governments around the world are turning to the question of implementation. Businesses should offer expertise and leadership as the profession becomes even more responsible, both socially and environmentally.

Delivering on these goals remains as important as in 2015 when they were first adopted by the UN. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that our understanding of what constitutes critical national infrastructure, crucial supply

chains, national preparedness, and where we need to invest, continues to be challenged by the pandemic. This pandemic has and is exacerbating existing problems. And yet, in spite of the massive global forces battering us, we need local and locally crafted solutions more than ever. This is where localising the SDGs, within planning by cities and professions like ours, enables us to rise to the challenge.

In this context, sustainability becomes critical to the success of the profession and its members. This is particularly true if businesses and consumers remain willing to pay for sustainable alternatives. It is within this scenario that ignoring sustainability, a proxy for public advantage, makes our core business as surveyors unsustainable.

We at RICS see the clear business case for member firms harnessing the SDGs to create opportunities across the following five key themes: growth, risk, capital, purpose, and talent. Members and member firms will play a major role in enabling cities to localise the SDGs and will have plenty to gain from this. This is because as a profession we value the principles enshrined in the SDGs.

SDGs eight, nine, and 12 refer directly to economic growth, employment, sustainable industrialisation, innovation, and sustainable production. Other SDGs also offer business advantages whether that be through expanding into new markets, attracting talent or reducing risk from operations. All of this is core knowledge and of interest to our membership.

Building on the Value the Planet campaign, this articulates how RICS will provide support and offer resources to help embed the SDGs within the built and natural environments. What can our members do? They can start by putting systems in place to communicate the elements contributing to the creation of the value of assets, in both the urban and natural environments, embedding sustainability in our DNA as a profession.

Prof. Samer Bagaeen FRICS is thought leadership relationships manager at RICS [email protected]

Related competencies: Sustainability

Valuing value

Samer Bagaeen

In a post-pandemic world, RICS’ Value the Planet campaign

will be more important than ever in order to help our profession

implement the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – and

preserve our planet for future generations



Residential property Rights to light

The recent judgment of Peter Knox QC in Beaumont v Florala [2020] EWHC 550 CH was met with some surprise by commentators. In this case, the owner of neighbouring land obtained an injunction ordering the cutback of a development that caused relatively small losses of light to the claimant’s office accommodation. In this article, we consider the court’s comments on the methods of measuring losses of light in the context of the future of how these losses should be measured.

Among other things, the court considered both the Waldram analysis and radiance testing methods.

Waldram analysis uses the principles set out by Percy Waldram in the 1920s, whereby a proportion of light (1/500th of a notional sky dome from a given point within the room being tested) is calculated at multiple points, to show where diffuse skylight can reach the working plane. Before Beaumont v Florala, the Waldram method was the only method of measuring rights to light that had ever been considered by the courts.

By comparison, radiance testing measures the reflected skylight bouncing off the surfaces before reaching the working plane of the subject room. It considers not only the surfaces within the subject room

but also those in the surrounding external environment. Often the amount of glazing and brightly coloured cladding and rendering used in modern buildings will have a reflective effect on the light received within neighbouring properties. The effect of trees can now also be considered with relative ease. Proponents of radiance testing therefore assert that it produces a more realistic assessment of the situation on the ground.

Of course, the disadvantage of radiance testing that is often pointed out is that the neighbour has no direct control over the surrounding environment, such as the regular cleaning of nearby glazing or cladding, cyclical decorations of the rendering, and pruning of trees. However, assigning little or no consideration to reflected skylight seems inequitable given we now have the ability to do so.

Radiance testing has not been with us for very long, as the technology to readily measure it was only developed recently, but is now a standard addition in most software packages.

The judgment in Beaumont v Florala was therefore hotly anticipated by those working in the field of rights to light.

The future’s bright?

Angela Gregson and Dan Tapscott

A recent case has illustrated how new technologies

might be used to measure losses of light


There was no right to receive reflected light or to have sources of reflected light from outside maintained

The court’s judgmentMeasurement of rights to light was not considered in great detail, but the judge’s comments are certainly significant. Radiance testing and the Waldram method were considered but the court preferred the Waldram method. The judge stated:

‘I do not accept that I should ignore the Waldram tests. They have stood the test of time and have the advantage of giving one some measure of the loss of light. But I accept that in a case such as this where the reduction in light is not great, its results provide only a starting point in the inquiry as to whether there has been an actionable interference.’

The judge emphasised that the claimant’s right was to receive natural light through its apertures. There was no right to receive reflected light or a right to have sources of reflected light from the outside maintained. The example given by the judge was that the claimant had no right to the maintenance of white rendering on the defendant’s building, which reflects light. If that rendering was painted black then there would be no or little reflection and the whole appearance would be much darker.

While the judge certainly did not dismiss radiance testing as a method of measuring losses of light, he did point out its potential weaknesses. Beaumont v Florala will no doubt be heading to an appeal and it is certainly the case that the basis of testing is an area requiring closer attention by the courts. Prior to the judgment, there was evidence of growing confidence in this alternative method. We are aware of rights to light insurers asking for comparable analyses being submitted, leading to reduced premiums, for example.

Time for review?The 2014 Law Commission report on rights to light has remained on the government’s back burner for some time. When it comes back on the agenda, it will certainly be playing catch up with technological developments. Besides radiance testing, there are other technologies which we believe warrant detailed consideration and other areas where judicial guidance would be helpful. • The use of climate-based daylight modelling is

on the increase. This takes radiance testing a step further by considering the diffuse skylight reaching the working plane in the subject room for a whole year based on the data collected at the closest weather station averaged over the previous 10 years. Arguably this is a more accurate real world method of analysis, but there are questions regarding the consistency of useful data collected from one station to another and the same drawbacks as radiance testing concerning the surrounding environment being out of the

control of the party in the neighbouring property. • The actual basis of measurement is an area warranting

clarity and consistency. We advocate the use of terrestrial laser scanning to form the basis of the 3D models. The majority of clients and some surveyors will not be aware of the hazards caused by relying on substandard data – such as brick counting, or sticking 2D elevations on block massing derived from images taken thousands of feet above them, ignoring window reveal depths or overhanging eaves – or the drawbacks in using mobile surveying methods of data capture such as vehicle mounted or handheld scanning that are not up to survey grade. Clients will be left paying increased professional fees for surveyors to argue over the quality of the data further down the line. Or, if an insurance-based solution is used, the cost of higher premium rates will be borne by clients anyway. We believe it is better to get things right from the outset as far as possible. • There is also the use of drones to consider where you

are taking detailed images flying across neighbouring properties that could do with some legislative clarity. • Photovoltaic panels are another area – can a panel

acquire an easement for the passage of light or solar radiation? Think of all those feed-in tariffs where projected returns will have been calculated based on the uninterrupted use of that light which could be devastated by neighbouring development.

It is certainly an interesting time now that surveyors have the ability to apply and consider these new technologies. Further guidance from the court of appeal would be welcomed.

Angela Gregson is a partner at Child & Child and Dan Tapscott is a partner and head of neighbourly matters at Rapleys [email protected]@rapleys.com

Related competencies include: Legal/regulatory compliance



Property Regeneration

Sound activityShain Shapiro

In order for any cultural activity to flourish, a

structured system must be set up to support it


We don’t systematise musical culture and as a result it can’t be optimised

Our cities are defined by the culture contained within them. When discussing what makes a city worth visiting, it is rare that one remarks on a city’s core infrastructure as the reason. A city is recognised, or represented, by its culture. London, for example, is known for its West End, incredible music scene and world class museums, rather than the London Plan or the city’s sustainability policies. The same can be said for Manchester and Liverpool. They are most well-known for their football and music heritage rather than their award-winning tourism policies or business attraction plans.

What makes a city attractive is led by what’s ephemeral and experiential, not what’s systematised and organised. Instead, systems are ignored and seen as ubiquitous, so much so that their functioning is a given, rather than a complex, iterative process. Few people rave about London’s clean water or Nottingham’s street cleaning facilities in Instagram posts. But we need these systems to work if we’re to have culture that is accessible, marketable and worth celebrating. A venue can only function if it has a working plumbing system. Without that, there’s no gig.

These systems are built on policies that are specific to ensuring they work. Our water policy is focused on ensuring clean water is provided to homes and businesses and dirty water is safely removed and treated. Street cleaning ensures streets are not dirty, and so on. But the landmarks we celebrate or the music scenes we admire are governed by policies focused on other things. From regulating alcohol and noise, to managing high streets, night-time economy policies are not set up to create great music scenes. It doesn’t work that way.

As a result, there is a disconnect between cultural production, in this case music, and the system developed to support it – planning for venues, noise bylaws, education and more. It’s not seen as a coherent, integrated system, but not investing in all points within the system leaves parts further down the supply chain threatened. If we lack clean water pipes, we get dirty water. If we do not have music education programs, we may not get as much great music. But as a society we take

that chance. We don’t systematise musical culture and as a result it can’t be optimised.

Without clean water, we can’t drink, do our dishes, wash our clothes or mop our floors. This process is the same with music and culture; without a structured system to ensure music and culture is created, sustained, supported, and marketed, the end product that we take for granted may not be able to reach an audience.

That is why there has been a call of late to better understand – so as to systematise – the role of music in communities. As we hear about the closure of grassroots music venues and nightclubs, or music education provisions being cut even further by local authorities, it reveals the short-sighted lack of planning, or systematising, with regards to the access and impact that music has on communities, despite many of us experiencing music in one way or another each day.

As a result, cities and city regions are recognising the need to think about music and culture in infrastructural terms – so much so that physical spaces and places, local programmes and policies that are needed to create, support and sustain a music ecosystem are being built into local policy, rather than bolted on to other pre-existing initiatives.

This has led to a number of UK cities developing music advisory councils whose responsibility is to assemble music and cultural leaders to advise policymakers on what a music and cultural ecosystem is and how to support it – to create that sustainable system of pipes, pumps, taps and wells in a cultural sense. While most of these advisory boards are volunteers, Cardiff took it one step further and commissioned a comprehensive music ecosystem study to better understand the role music plays across the community –

from education to live performance, health and wellbeing to permitting and taxation.

The result, Cardiff’s music city action plan, is the first of its kind in the UK and a test case to see how thinking about music in a deliberate and intentional way, similar to any other piece of infrastructure, can positively impact the city.

The objective was to treat music in the same manner as other forms of civic infrastructure in the city. From licensing to public health, industry engagement to street performance, parking to tourism, the study created a policy platform to recognise the role of music in each department and assess its impact as a civic good – and ensure the council had the data to invest in it wherever possible, alleviate pressure points and explain in detail its economic impact with the community. As a result, a Cardiff music board now meets bi-monthly. Parking restrictions across the city’s business improvement district have been reformed to better support musicians loading their equipment into and out of venues. A new festival is being developed, including a significant online component as a reaction to the restrictions COVID-19 has imposed and importantly, the city has a comprehensive action plan for music, one that no other UK city outside of London has delivered to this extent.

The objective is that music and culture will be seen as similar to any other core piece of infrastructure. Importantly, seeing music in this way safeguards it and the experiences that it engenders, that we celebrate, promote and reference when talking about why we live where we live, or why we visit the places we do.

Shain Shapiro, PhD, is founder and CEO of Sound [email protected]



Property BIM

In November 2018, I found myself in Las Vegas in front of about 500 people speaking about DynamoBIM (dynamobim.org). For each of the following five days at this huge Autodesk international conference at least two people would come up and tell me they had heard my talk, and that it had a positive impact on how they thought about visual programming in architecture. I felt like a movie star – how did this happen?

Only a year before I had felt fairly junior and couldn’t see a potential for upward mobility in my career in the medium term. But fast forward to the autumn of 2019, and I was on the stage at UK Construction Week as one of the top four UK construction role models. A little later I also received a Building Innovation Award on behalf of my company, in recognition of the training programmes I had developed.

For the last two years, my work life has been filled with events, panels, and talks, but most excitingly, by some of the largest, most impressive, construction undertakings in the world, supporting world-renowned architectural companies like Grimshaw Architects and Alison Brooks Architects.

Before I completely turned my career around by specialising in BIM, I was working as an architectural assistant and I saw that getting to a place where I would feel the satisfaction about

my career that I now experience seemed at least a decade away.Architecture was always an obsession of mine and I had dreamed

of becoming an architect since I was a child. I managed to survive an undergraduate course in architecture while working two part-time jobs, because apparently my wild architectural ambitions were not in the family budget. No worries.

When I was 20, taking care of your mental health was not as popular as it is today, so I just burned myself out working 12-hour shifts, waiting tables and pulling all-nighters making models and drawings. After a year in practice, however, the prospect of getting back to this kind of life was hard to swallow. I had come to the industry thirsty and ready to conquer. And indeed, the industry had a lot of work for me, but alas, qualifying as an architect was not on the menu for me – it was not financially feasible whatever angle I tried to take.

I soldiered on, doing my best as an assistant, as I loved what I was doing. The people around me saw my dedication and happily gave me more responsibilities because they knew I could make things happen. Two and a half years in, I was running a small surgery refurbishment. A year later I was in charge of several large construction packages in a £350m project. I was doing what I wanted, but it was not reflected in my title or salary.

Diversifying BIM

Katya Veleva

A BIM architectural consultant describes

her career path into the profession

http://dynamobim.org


In BIM, for the process to be successful, you need everyone to be able to collaborate

In the overworked haze that was university life, I had managed to do one priceless thing. After my first year, I sought out an architectural summer job, and while going through pages and pages of advertisements that all seemed to contain the word Revit, decided to get myself a manual and master this Revit thing. This decision was one of the main things that has supported my professional growth since then. Little by little, I got more involved with the BIM processes and the software side of things and was delighted to discover that they, alongside visual programming, could provide just as much creative satisfaction as traditional architectural design.

So, in the spring of 2018, I started working as a BIM consultant, and my career finally started to show the progress I wanted. It was such a drastic change, but what is it about BIM that seemed to open so many opportunities for me? Is it BIM that is open, or is it that the rest of construction is not? Or is it both?

The wider construction industry is very traditional and overwhelmingly male. In traditionally male professions, not only are there many established gatekeepers, a young woman, let alone a visibly immigrant woman like me, has to deal with a lot of expectations. And let me tell you, those are not expectations of success. Feeling alone and unheard at a table of 12 older white men is the norm, and you need to dedicate some of the energy you would otherwise put into your work to making yourself heard. This process involves trying to become a little whiter and a bit older, but most of all a little bit male, because this is how those jobs are done.

Then I became aware of BIM. It’s the same buildings, but there is something new about the process of making them. Suddenly the so-called masculine attributes that are traditionally celebrated in business don’t work so well. Instead, what are seen as feminine characteristics, such as collaboration, open work-sharing and creative innovation, are what lead to success.

In construction business culture, we have spent centuries celebrating what we define as masculine qualities. If someone is more softly spoken – not as direct, willing to compromise or seemingly not assertive, and instead willing to make space for others – these things are immediately perceived as a weakness, not because they are, but because they are traits associated historically with femininity, and definitely not attributed to leadership. Of course, people with different gender identities have different experiences of this rejection, not just women as is commonly assumed. It is a bigger win for diversity if you see a soft spoken, nail varnish-wearing man at a board meeting table than it is if a woman is present who is forced to be ‘one of the boys’ to survive. In BIM, for the process to be successful, you need everyone around the table happy and able to collaborate, and so many traditionally feminine qualities naturally lend themselves to safeguarding this.

I believe BIM roles can utilise some feminine qualities very successfully. This, combined with my experience and skills, has let me grow and fill a space where specialist skills were lacking, instead of having to fight my way into a shut-off world saturated with established experts who appeared to fit the part. This is what propelled my career to where I am today. I have been fortunate to meet many brilliant women in BIM who have followed an

unconventional career path to find success in this field, with some having made the move from unconnected fields like acting.

This leads me to Women in BIM (WIB). This organisation was founded in 2012 by Rebecca De Cicco as one of the BIM4 branches of the UK BIM Alliance. We have been growing steadily in the past eight years, with almost 500 officially registered members from all around the world and thousands of followers on social media. The UK, US and Australian branches represent our three largest local organisations, but we have members in all habitable continents across 35 different countries.

WIB’s main goal is to support the growing community of professionals in digital construction through our collective efforts to attract, promote, retain and celebrate women and people of minority genders. We provide opportunities for our members to network, lead discussion, and get the support they need to pursue BIM roles. I joined WIB in the spring of 2018 as a core team member and I am now the mentoring lead of the organisation.

I have been involved in mentoring since 2009 and have volunteered as a mentor with organisations such as the Stephen Lawrence Trust and Build By Us, so the WIB mentor programme is a passion project for me. We were delighted with the volume and quality of applicants and are undergoing a rigorous matching process where we will make sure we match people in mentoring couples that are set up for success.

To support the programme participants we have put together a handbook (bit.ly/wibimhdbook) that has been endorsed by the UK BIM Alliance. This year we will try to be very focused with our mentoring matches, but if we are as successful as we hope, in 2021 we may be able to expand the programme in order to reach and help more people who are looking to grow in the world of BIM.

We are living in unprecedented times, so now more than ever we need diverse creative thought and talent to do things differently. We cannot afford to allow unhealthy habits to continue in traditional professions, especially when newer industries are stepping forward to fill the gap. If the construction industry wants to survive the digital evolution it is undergoing, a little BIM and a lot of women may be the medicine it needs.

Katya Veleva is a BIM consultant and mentoring lead at Women in BIMlinkedin.com/in/katya-veleva-2a41bb48


http://bit.ly/wibimhdbook

http://linkedin.com/in/katya-veleva-2a41bb48


Property Comment

Q: After a recent acquisition my client realised that the target holds a large cache of old customer data and is unsure if they should dispose of it or how. What steps should they take to ensure they comply with GDPR as soon as possible?

A: Rather unhelpfully, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) offers little direction as to how long businesses should hold onto customer data. Instead, the GDPR sets out a storage limitation principle, which states that ‘…personal data shall be kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed’. Your client will therefore need to undertake its own assessment of the customer data and ask: • what is the nature of the customer data • for what purpose it being used, and • what steps should the business take

to stay compliant.Under the GDPR, any data which

constitutes personal data – information which relates to a living individual based

in the EU or the UK – will be subject to its storage limitation principle.

If the cache of customer data your client inherited does not constitute personal data, then your client will not face any GDPR-related penalties for its continued retention.

As per the storage limitation principle, personal data should only be kept for as long as it is needed. If the inherited personal data continues to serve a purpose for the company, then your client will have a right to retain it. Whether personal data serves a legitimate purpose for a business needs to be determined on a case-by-case basis. It could, for example, be considered legitimate to keep personal data relating to previous customers for marketing purposes. In addition, if the inherited customer data relates to any warranties provided by the seller in the share or asset purchase agreement documenting the transaction, your client would have a legitimate reason to retain it for the limitation period during which warranty claims can be made.

There are also certain exclusions under the storage limitation principle which mean that your client can hold onto personal

data for as long as they wish if it is used for statistical, scientific or historical research or public interest archiving purposes.

Your client may face fines from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or be ordered to rectify a storage limitation breach if they have inherited personal data the company has no purpose in keeping and does nothing about it. Instead, your client should either anonymise or dispose of the personal data.

The ICO may even issue penalties to your client for breaches which occurred under the seller’s ownership of the target company. If your client faces such penalties, then it may be possible for them to recoup those losses. Ideally, the seller would have provided data protection warranties to your client in the share or asset purchase agreement documenting the acquisition, stating that the target company had complied with all data protection laws including the storage principle in the period prior to completion. The contravention of such provisions by the seller may allow your client to bring a breach of warranty claim to recoup any losses incurred. As such, all buyers should look to include comprehensive data protection warranties in agreements which govern acquisitions.

Alternatively, where keeping the data serves a clear purpose, your client should seek to establish a retention policy if one is not already in place. Implementing policies can help businesses establish good working practices around retention periods for different data categories. Taking into consideration the purposes for which data will be processed, as well as any regulatory or legal requirements and industry standards, can help businesses determine appropriate retention periods.

Your client should also regularly review any personal data held by the company in order to assess what action should be taken to remain compliant. By instilling up-to-date retention policies and conducting regular data reviews, your client will not only be protecting their customers, but also themselves from ICO enforcement action.

Andrew Solomon is a senior associate at Kingsley Napley LLP [email protected]

‘Under the GDPR, any data that constitutes personal data will be subject to its storage limitation principle’

Data

Andrew SolomonKingsley Napley LLP


Residential property Fire safety

Although the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 gives some redress for tenants in poor living conditions, much more needs to be done to ensure that residents are able to enforce safety in their homes. Rights for an individual tenant to bring a claim are important – but it is also important to give them the power to prompt the state to act on their behalf.

The regulation of common parts of buildings in particular creates problems, and when it comes to the vital matter of effective compartmentation, legal responsibility might be unclearly delineated. In addition, practical issues can make the enforcement of private rights difficult, including the limited availability of legal aid and the potential absence of specialist housing lawyers or advisers who can act where a tenant is not able to navigate the complexity of bringing proceedings themselves.

Together with the Tower Blocks Network and Environmental Health expert Stephen Battersby, and with input from fire safety expert Phil Murphy, a group of us in the Law School at the University of Kent have developed a checklist.

This is designed to help tower block residents identify and highlight fire safety

issues in their buildings or individual flats, and guide them on what might be done to redress this.

The list helps gather information, and when completed, tenants can use it to support a request for an assessment under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. The assessment should then be made by the local authority to identify the seriousness of the risks (bit.ly/tblock-xlist).

The list is explicitly designed for tenants, whether their landlord is a local authority or not, and includes a flowchart to help them work out routes to resolve problems. Leaseholders may also find the checklist a useful source of reference on fire safety. But they will not be able to seek help from the local authority for issues that are demised to them under the terms of the lease.

The checklist is easy to use, giving tenants tick-box questions to go through. It is divided into those on common parts and those on individual flats, and includes questions on physical and structural issues as well as management issues.

As residents work through the questions, the safest response is indicated by a shaded box; the more ticks there are in unshaded boxes, the greater the risk. As well as the questions themselves, the checklist

Power to the peopleA new fire safety checklist will help tenants in risky

residences force local authorities to take action

Ed Kirton-Darling and Helen Carr

includes illustrations of what to look out for, sources of further information, and tips for how to deal with local authority environmental health officers.

We are keen to gather feedback on the checklist to improve it on a continual basis, so if you do have any comments, please contact us using the email addresses below.

Next stepsFire literacy is important, as is the need for tools to navigate the complexity of housing law; but empowering occupiers is only the first step that needs to be taken. Freeholders, managers and housing professionals need to listen and respond to occupiers’ concerns, and the legal regime needs an urgent overhaul.

In research for housing charity Shelter, we argued that the law relating to health and safety in people’s homes is piecemeal, outdated, complex, dependent on tenure, and patchily enforced (bit.ly/Carretal2017).It makes obscure distinctions, and our research demonstrated just how little relationship there was between these and the poor conditions in which residents live.

Those who want to improve the safety of their home face numerous and often insurmountable barriers to justice. We argued that the state should legally accept responsibility for enforcing minimum standards, but that residents should be given tools to force action as well – including, for example, the ability to take concerns straight to the First-Tier Tribunal, which could then have the powers to order a local authority inspection. The checklist is therefore a start, but much more still needs to be done.

Gary Strong, RICS global building standards director, comments: ‘We support the need for involvement of residents in fire safety, and have published a consumer guide for owners, occupiers on fire safety’ (rics.org/firesafetyguide).

Ed Kirton-Darling is a lecturer and solicitor and Helen Carr is a professor at Kent Law [email protected] [email protected]

Related competencies include: Landlord and tenant


http://bit.ly/tblock-xlist

http://bit.ly/Carretal2017).It

http://bit.ly/Carretal2017).It

http://rics.org/firesafetyguide


Commercial APC

The valuer should ensure that a copy of the signed terms of engagement are held on file to create a clear audit trail

Valuation is a core or optional technical competency for a wide variety of APC pathways, including Commercial Real Estate, Corporate Real Estate, Planning and Development, Property Finance and Investment, Residential, Rural and Valuation.

The APC competency guide confirms that valuation is ‘about the preparation and provision of properly researched valuation advice, made in accordance with the appropriate valuation standards, to enable clients to make informed decisions’.

In this article, we will look at the underlying process behind a valuation instruction. This will take candidates from start to finish, including common difficulties you may encounter, and finally our tips for ensuring a high standard of professional service is maintained in valuation work.

There are four key stages to undertaking a valuation instruction, each of which we will consider in turn:

Preliminary questionsThere are eight key preliminary questions that a valuer should ask before accepting a valuation instruction. Some of these can be covered in an initial telephone call or meeting with the client.

These are as follows. • Ask the client what the purpose of the valuation is. • Establish if the request is for a written valuation to be provided,

which will require compliance in part or full with RICS Valuation – Global Standards (Red Book Global, 2020). • Assess whether the valuer is suitably qualified, experienced and

knowledgeable to provide advice, for example, are they familiar with the type of property, valuation purpose and location. • Check for conflicts of interest in line with the RICS professional

statement (rics.org/conflicts), if any are identified then they need to

either be managed or the instruction declined. • Establish if there any specific national or other overriding

requirements, such as taxation legislation or the UK National Supplement, for example. • Check if any third parties or the public will have an interest in the

valuation, as this may require additional disclosures, if for instance they are being published in financial statements. • Check if the valuation is one of the five excepted purposes, which

do not have to comply with Valuation Technical and Performance Standards (VPS) 1-5 of the Red Book Global, although Professional Standards (PS) 1-2 remain of mandatory application. • Check if the valuer’s firm holds sufficient professional indemnity

insurance to cover the potential liability stemming from the instruction. A liability cap may need to be considered to limit risk in certain circumstances.

If all of these questions can be answered satisfactorily and any issues addressed, then the valuer can proceed to the next stage; agreeing terms of engagement.

Valuation step-by-stepJen Lemen

Understanding the timeline of a valuation is

vital to APC success in this competency

http://rics.org/conflicts


Terms of engagementThe next key stage is for the valuer to agree written terms of engagement with the client. If the valuation is to comply with the Red Book Global, then these should include the minimum requirements set out by VPS 1, e.g. name of the client, property address and valuation date.

The valuer should ensure that a copy of the signed terms of engagement are held on file to create a clear audit trail. It is also sensible to liaise with the client to ensure that they understand and are happy with the agreed terms.

Valuation preparationVPS 2 of the Red Book Global provides guidance on the valuation process, including inspection, due diligence and verification of information. Typically, a valuer will undertake the following. • Desktop due diligence, for example looking at location maps,

historic file records, lease, Land Registry title plan and register, flood risk, coal mining, as well as identifying any health and safety concerns through a risk assessment. • Making access arrangements. • Inspections, including dynamic health and safety risk assessment

on site, e.g. being aware of your surroundings and unexpected hazards encountered on site. The inspection will cover the surrounding, external and internal areas, noting any factors that may impact upon value. Full notes and photographs should be taken to create a clear audit trail on file. • Measurement on site. • Collating due diligence, inspection and measurement notes to

start preparing a VPS 3 compliant valuation report, recognising any limitations or requirements of the agreed terms of engagement. • Comparable evidence research, including verification of any

transactions with the parties involved. Sources of evidence could include online databases, discussions with active agents and past experience. Net effective rates should be calculated and the hierarchy of evidence applied to the valuer’s analysis of the available evidence. • Clear file notes should be kept, including the valuer’s justification

and thought process in arriving at the final valuation figure. • Valuation calculation, using one of the five valuation methods and

potentially cross-checking using another method, if appropriate. For example, cross checking a residual valuation with a comparable method approach.

ReportingFinally, the valuer will need to complete a VPS 3-compliant valuation report. This will include the minimum requirements such as the client, purpose of the report, interest, basis of value (VPS 4) and valuation date.

The valuer also needs to step back to review the valuation figure and context of the instruction as a whole. This is because valuation is both an art and a science.

Peer reviewing at this stage is extremely helpful to identify potential errors or areas of concern, where additional research or consideration is required.

The valuation report should then be issued in final form to the client. Ideally this will be in hard copy or PDF format, which cannot be amended by the client or any third party. A Red Book valuation report should be signed off by a RICS-registered valuer, providing the client with assurance that it meets the highest standards and thus promoting trust in the profession.

A follow-up telephone call is also helpful to answer any queries the client may have and to seek feedback on the service provided. This can be accompanied by the valuer’s fee invoice for payment by the client within defined payment terms.

The final responsibility of the valuer is to ensure that the valuation file is complete and coherent. This provides clear justification for the valuer’s final valuation figure and report, ensuring a clear audit trail in the event that a complaint or future negligence claim is received.

Jen Lemen BSc (Hons) FRICS is a partner at Property Elite, providing training and support to RICS APC and AssocRICS candidates [email protected]

Further Information: rics.org/redbookivsc.orgRelated competencies include: Valuation

Top five tips

APC candidates will be required to provide examples of valuations they have been involved with (level 2) or undertaken from start to finish (level 3, which is likely to be under supervision of a registered valuer). This requires a robust understanding of the logical and methodical process of carrying out a valuation from start to finish.

To ensure that candidates are well-versed in avoiding potential valuation pitfalls, here are five tips for success. • Ensure that you carry out your pre-instruction checks

diligently each time a new valuation instruction is received. This will include reviewing and issuing new terms of engagement for each instruction to existing clients. • Ensure that your due diligence is comprehensive

to identify any key factors that may affect value. • Uphold high standards of health and safety when

inspecting, including risk assessment, safe lone working and taking personal protective equipment. Desktop due diligence can help to identify hazards that you may encounter on site. • Ensure that you fully investigate the relevant comparable

evidence, with all details verified by the parties involved to ensure accuracy and reliability of your valuation advice. • Ensure that your file notes are well-organised, legible and

professionally presented – this creates a clear audit trail in the event of a complaint or claim.


http://rics.org/redbook

http://ivsc.org


Commercial property Legionnaire’s disease

Landlords and duty holders of commercial and residential properties will be aware that they have a responsibility under Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance to manage risk from legionella. Good practice during business as usual is outlined in HSE and RICS (bit.ly/HSRMrics) guidance notes.

Ideally a risk assessment will have been undertaken, and where risk is identified, a water monitoring regime will be in place, normally implemented by a water hygiene management company, to regularly confirm water quality.

The monitoring regime should follow the requirements of ACoP L8: Legionnaires’ disease: The control of legionella bacteria in water systems, fourth edition, 2013 (bit.ly/LeggControl).

It is clear that in the current situation, risks and control measures highlighted previously will need to be re-visited. COVID-19 has resulted in extreme fluctuations in building occupancy. This has an associated risk of stagnation in water systems and dramatically increases the potential for outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease if actions

Legionella: service interrupted

Joe Finn

As commercial buildings look set to have low or zero

occupation for extended periods, technology can help prevent

Legionnaire’s disease from building up in water systems

http://bit.ly/HSRMrics

http://bit.ly/LeggControl


COVID-19 has resulted in extreme fluctuations in building occupancy

taken now are not carefully considered. The Legionella Control Association (LCA)

are keen that property professionals advise their clients that the ‘Health and Safety at Work Act still applies, and Dutyholders must be taking reasonably practicable steps to control risk from legionella throughout this time … Each Dutyholder must make their own determination for each circumstance but the following principles should be considered when making decisions on what to do to control legionella during the COVID-19 outbreak:1. the expectation for evaporative cooling systems is that they will be maintained as usual or switched off safely – there is no leeway in this2. the expectation for water systems supplying critical services, for example hospitals, is that they will be maintained as usual – there is no leeway in this3. hot and cold water systems in buildings that are empty or with under occupancy must address the issue of stagnation:a. if the building is still partially in use take additional measures to keep the remaining occupants safeb. buildings that are temporarily shut down – mothballed – should follow the guidance in HSG274 Part 2 paragraphs 2.50-2.52’ (bit.ly/Legionella90).

If a building is closed down, careful consideration should be given to recommissioning of water systems. When buildings have been empty for some time and during warm weather, it is likely that bacteria levels and biofilm will increase, complicating the disinfection process. There will also be increased demand for competent contractors to undertake this work.

I would advise those in property to engage with a competent professional and make their clients aware of the cost, duration and safety implications of recommissioning, which can be a lengthy process involving cleaning and disinfection of water systems.

While it’s unclear when normality will resume, it would be sensible to consider the future for maintaining safe water systems, and how new technology can help us cope.

If social distancing measures and working from home become standard, at least for the foreseeable future, landlords can expect occupancy to continue to fluctuate. There may be restrictions or reluctance on the part of clients to allow engineer site visits to proceed as usual. We will certainly see a resource stretch on the limited pool of competent water hygiene consultants/contractors in the near future, as water hygiene issues arise from a vast number of building close-downs.

Technology can help us bridge this gap. To understand how it can do so, we should note that legionella bacteria proliferates in stagnant water between 20C and 45C. Consequently, keeping the

hot water hot, the cold water cold and preventing stagnation by flushing little-used outlets is the commonest form of legionella control.

Sensor technology that analyses temperature differential to identify when a tap is in use can help to monitor this, as instead of monitoring on a timed basis every five or ten minutes and sending the data, the latest versions can monitor conditions every few seconds. In addition, because the sensors are operating locally for most of the time they use little power. In effect, the sensor works by asking three questions about each temperature. • Is it time to report a reading? • Has the reading changed significantly from the

previous reading? • Is the temperature outside parameters?

If the answer to any of the questions is yes, it switches to full power and transmits the data. The newest technology has advantages over most other forms of remote temperature sensor: • it uses very little power, which means batteries are

quoted to last over ten years before they require changing • enhanced communication range means less equipment

is needed, making the system very cost-effective • it picks up flow events based on temperature change,

this means that when areas have no usage it is detected, and flushing can be intelligently directed with most effective use of costly resources.

On larger property portfolios and water systems, reductions in carbon emission, water use and energy quickly mount up, particularly where the site is being visited by a contractor to collect temperature data.

The incorporation of remote sensing technologies is becoming more widespread as a result of the price drop in technology. As this type of innovation continues to develop it will help us meet the challenges of water hygiene in the post-COVID-19 era.

Joe Finn is director of Remote Tech Ltd [email protected]

Related competencies: Facilities management, Health and safety


http://bit.ly/Legionella90


Residential property Proptech

‘The best way to predict the future is to create it.’ These were the words of RICS president Timothy Neal in February’s issue of Modus magazine.

The property industry is destined for a complete digital transformation. It is happening now and the proptech industry is maturing at a pace. So, what are businesses in the property and technology industries doing to create change and choose the future we want to see?

At the end of 2019, Cripps Pemberton Greenish released its Creating Connections report (crippspg.co.uk/proptech-report-2019), exploring where technology is making a difference and the practical challenges to adoption and implementation that the industry faces. The principal conclusion is that greater collaboration between the technology and property industries is essential for proptech to add value across the property lifecycle. With a greater exchange of ideas and skills between the two industries, we will find practical applications for software that make sense to property professionals and benefits our working lives.

Here we present two case studies of active proptech projects where this meeting of minds is happening. They are written from the perspectives of both a property consultant and a technology start-up.

CBRE’s Asset iQCBRE believe in disrupting themselves to reimagine a digital future, by adopting a build – buy – partner strategy. This includes strategic investment via proptech venture capital funds, partnerships with new technology providers, and looking internally to develop tools and technologies

that deliver greater service for clients.Asset iQ was borne out of the need

for connected data to deliver energy management strategies in building design and management. CBRE’s London engineering team recognised the opportunity – underlined by the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, socially responsible investment, and escalating prices – to embrace technology and unlock the potential of energy data to deliver better energy efficiency.

Around 80 per cent of a building’s energy requirements is controlled by the building management system (BMS). Asset iQ is a web-based platform designed to remotely connect to the BMS and other systems to capture building data. Asset iQ software retrieves and analyses real time information from a building to provide valuable insights about its operation. The data gives management teams access to dynamic, real time energy use of a building and the ability to control it effectively in order to reduce its consumption.

Asset iQ enables the best use of BMS data. Landlords quickly see how to reduce hard operational costs, lower overheads through better use of building management resources and enhance the environment for the well-being of occupiers – which improves productivity.

The average asset saving from using the technology is £0.33 per square foot. One example from CBRE of a 310,000 square foot office building in Birmingham delivered £156,000 savings in year one. This equated to a 20 per cent reduction in energy consumption and an average saving of £0.50 per square foot.

The technology is enabling clients to

identify the best strategy to maximise investment across their portfolios and achieve returns on the triple bottom line for positive financial and ESG outcomes.

Nick Wright, senior director, strategic consulting at CBRE says that ‘the industry challenge is often one of mindset and understanding the benefits of trialling new ideas and solutions, learning and adoption.’

He believes the larger challenge ‘is moving clients away from tech tourism to asking the questions. • What is the outcome I want that is going

to give my organisation an advantage? • How do I prove the business case for

investment? • What is the solution and how can

technology support better sustainability reporting, greater operational efficiency, improved productivity and enhanced end-user experience?’

Nick agrees that ‘technology is not the answer but an enabler.’

Mortar’s platformFor many companies in the property sector, a lack of digital expertise is one of the biggest barriers to proptech implementation. Understanding technology and how data can be harnessed for decision-making requires certain skills and experience that is not commonly found within the property professions.

With a combined background in finance, property and software development, the three co-founders of technology start-up Mortar knew they had relevant skills to bring to the sector.

George Unsworth, Mehmet Duran, and Alper Turktas set up Mortar to improve core financial processes within property

Creating connections

Mike Scott and Liz Carter

Two case studies illustrate how collaboration between

technology and property businesses can work effectively

http://crippspg.co.uk/proptech-report-2019


Greater collaboration between the technology and property industries is essential for proptech to add value across the property lifecycle

investment and management, particularly in income generation and collection. By applying machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to the process of rent collection, Mortar removes time-consuming administrative tasks and enables staff to focus more on the tenant experience.

Mortar joined the PwC proptech scale up programme in 2019 and in conversation with PwC’s property clients, the team identified gaps in the type of data landlords were collecting. They also found financial processing and reporting systems that were unconnected to each other and out of date. The knock-on effect was that finance and collections teams were creating impractical and time-consuming workarounds that reduced their productivity.

Mortar is a finance platform for the property sector that helps address this problem. It is built on a core AI system and works in conjunction with clients’ legacy systems. The software pulls together multiple sets of financial data from clients’ existing systems and presents the data in a highly visual and user-friendly format.

Mortar also links to a mobile app that helps tenants manage their own arrears and set up flexible rent payments. Such consumer-facing tools are helping landlords create dialogue and develop a more active relationship with their tenants.

For one large property client, with both commercial and residential assets, Mortar created a complete visualisation of their revenue. Different data sets were pulled together to display a historical pattern of income. This was the first time the client’s finance team had seen their data in this connected way.

By running their data sets through

Mortar, the property client has pinpointed the highs and lows in their financial performance and productivity and the associated triggers. This is transforming their business intelligence systems and informing their wider digital strategy.

Mortar is now providing the collections team with their own user interfaces to make it quicker and easier for them to identify and allocate income. The company is also working on turning visualisation of historical data into a real time, accurate and informed financial system that will be consumer facing.

The biggest challenge for Mortar has been communicating what the technology is and the benefits it brings. Clients want to hear about outcomes rather than the nuts and bolts of how the technology works. They also want proof of concept and, as a start-up without case histories, this is difficult to provide.

These case studies show how the property and technology worlds are converging to produce useful new tools but it can sometimes feel like mixing oil and water. Approaches to risk and accepted norms differ widely. But, as we’ve seen, the property industry is balancing

these differences by using business and contractual frameworks, such as: • joint ventures bringing technology and

property skills together, balancing the customer-supplier relationship, sharing risk and reward • pilot projects testing the technology in

a discrete area rather than applying it across the business or portfolio, and • incubators bringing in start-up tech

businesses and providing a safe area in which to develop a product.

As property professionals, we can see first hand the problems that could be solved through software, data and communication tools. Technology and property industries must continue investing time in educating one another by having conversations outside of our own networks and developing new skills.

Together we can test, learn and transform the way we work to shape the digital future we want to see.

Mike Scott is head of real estate and Liz Carter is senior business development executive at Cripps Pemberton [email protected]@crippspg.co.uk


Commercial property Digital twins

Double vision

Terry Stocks

Digital twins offer the opportunity for better

understanding and maintenance of assets and portfolios,

but work must be done to create a new information

management landscape and greater collaboration



The current asset delivery and operational landscapes don’t lend themselves to the creation of open and shareable information

The concept of a twin is not new, but in the context of assets, a twin is the linking and referencing of information between two entities. One of those entities will be the physical asset, the other the traditionally paper assets, including drawings, operational instructions and schedules. A digital twin, in its simplest form, creates this link through a digital medium, enabling more efficient access and intelligent outputs for all stakeholders.

Built environment professionals will be familiar with the issues of accessing as-built information for an asset, be it newly constructed or existing. Assets with a full set of updated and referenceable information are not the norm. The likelihood is that the older an asset, the less reliable the data. The concept of a digital twin is to create a base data set for an asset, and for that data to be updated during the operational lifespan.

Information about a single asset is useful, however, information about a portfolio of assets and information on how those assets are accessed and used by the general public and occupiers allows for a greater degree of benchmarking and trend analysis to be undertaken between assets. At present, data sets at this level remain on client systems where data and information exchange can be controlled and security easily managed. Data is at its most powerful, though, when it is shared widely, enabling whole asset owner groups across sectors to benchmark and plan based on wide and trustworthy data sets, including how people interact and travel to those facilities and the wider area.

Challenges and progressThe report Data For The Public Good (bit.ly/NICdatarep), produced by the National Infrastructure Commission and endorsed by the UK government, outlines the impacts data has and could have in driving efficiencies in our planning, operations and decision making at asset, portfolio and national planning levels. However, the more widely the data is shared, the more potential issues there are. These can include problems created by different ontologies, also called asset naming strategies – if things are not named in the same way or referenceable as being the same, then the full value of the digital twin cannot be realised – security, access platforms, and protocols.

There is work ongoing to create the environment for a digital twin; the Cambridge University Centre for Digital Built Britain is working to deliver a developed road map with the aim of progressing to a National Digital Twin (bit.ly/NatDigTwin) ‘an ecosystem of connected digital twins, securely sharing infrastructure information to support better outcomes for us all’. The current asset delivery and operational landscapes don’t lend themselves to the creation of open and shareable

information. Procurement environments can be cost-based and even when they are based on collaborative forms of contracts, in reality, subclauses or weighted quality/cost scores – in favour of cost – can drive non-collaborative behaviours.

The current capital delivery and facilities management markets are often not aligned. The data provided at capital delivery handover does not align with the level of information a facilities management (FM) provider requires. FM providers are therefore forced to survey completed assets to gather such a level of information and tend to classify their collected data to suit their own organisational systems, which goes against the aspirations of a digital twin.

Progressing towards a National Digital Twin is not going to be a quick journey, but building owners, operators and service providers can benefit now in their own organisations.

Service providers can also reap rewards by being ready to accept delivered data and use it in their own software platforms. The foundation for this is the adherence to the UK BIM Framework standards, guides and resources which are based on current national and international standards (ukbimframework.org).

Government Soft Landings (GSL) has recently gone through a re-launch and is now better aligned to the UK BIM Framework approach (bit.ly/GSLupdate). The soft landings process is detailed in BS 8536-1 Briefing for design and construction: Code of practice for facilities management (buildings infrastructure) and BS 8536-2 Design and construction: code of practice for asset management (linear and geographical infrastructure).

GSL is about thinking of the end at the beginning, which means considering what information needs to be


http://bit.ly/NICdatarep

http://bit.ly/NatDigTwin

http://ukbimframework.org

http://bit.ly/GSLupdate


collected, what format it needs to be collected in and how it should be accessed in operations in order to enable the delivered asset and service to be as envisaged. This element is essentially the BIM owner’s information requirements, which help shape the project brief. The asset delivery, when aligned to the UK BIM Framework and GSL process, tests and challenges the design development through delivery and ensures the data and information handed over to operations is validated and structured. The whole process drives a level of transparency and collaboration that is missing in current delivery models.

Providing the golden threadThe UK BIM Framework advocates the delivery of data in a structured, assured, complete and accessible format. The data should be held on the building owners’ systems and accessed by the FM agent or other service providers. In this way, the client benefits from owning an accurate and updated data set for their assets and can test building performance against their aspirations and expectations. This data set, while being a form of delivered digital twin, will also provide the data ‘golden thread’ discussed in the Dame Judith Hackitt report, Building a Safer Future (bit.ly/BSFHackitt).

The report, commissioned following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, outlines the importance of transparency, starting with the stated intent of the design with regards to safe building standards, to delivery and continuing through operation. The government response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s report has been shared in industry papers and consultation, and legislative changes are to be laid before parliament shortly. A comprehensive digital approach to delivery will support their compliance.

Another element of the report is the Building Safety File, a document to be developed during the design stage, validated through delivery and handed over and updated in operations. The file will be accessible to the building owner so that they can evidence they are complying with their responsibilities. Meanwhile, the building operator can update the information to record work done and, more importantly, provide evidence the work was done to the required quality. Having a set of core specified data that accurately reflects the current state of the asset provides the data golden thread and therefore goes a long way to maintaining and evidencing a safer building.

The benefits realised as a result of the digital twin model will depend on the relative data awareness and adoption maturity of the client, delivery team, operator and other relevant stakeholders. During design the digital twin model can be used to simulate outcomes, helping to make decisions on the drawing board

that will impact the whole operational lifecycle. The operator or FM provider can bring the model and data into their own operational practice – deploying sensors for example – to drive better decision making and inform the client about operational optimisation.

Undertaking dynamic planned maintenance, rather than the current cyclical approach, could decrease maintenance costs and increase operational continuity. A better alignment between all parties associated with an asset, including users, will change the current relationship norms and allow for better outcomes.

As the digital twin approach matures and new information management landscapes are developed to enable the safe and open sharing of data, large-scale benefits can be realised at a national planning level and beyond the assets themselves. This means supporting delivery of national carbon targets, increasing industry efficiency and delivering a wider value from our national assets. The government’s Transforming Infrastructure Programme (bit.ly/TIPUKgov) and the Department of Transport’s Transport Infrastructure Efficiency Strategy (bit.ly/DfTTIES17) outline the changes required.

As professionals we should be working together now to promote the UK BIM Framework and GSL approach. As a result, we can start to create asset-level and portfolio-level digital twins and build the foundations of a national digital twin that will improve strategic planning, project delivery, and operational and business outcomes for all.

Terry Stocks is director – UK head of public sector and education at Faithful+Gould [email protected]

Related competencies include: Data management

Undertaking dynamic planned maintenance, rather than the current cyclical approach, could decrease maintenance costs and increase operational continuity

Commercial property Digital twins

http://bit.ly/BSFHackitt

http://bit.ly/TIPUKgov

http://bit.ly/DfTTIES17


Residential property Empty homes

There have been many articles in Property Journal on the question of vacant properties. I’ve worked in the public and private property sectors for nearly 50 years; this experience taught me that while there are circumstances in which property will fall vacant, it is far better for an empty home to be brought back to use.

Local authorities are empowered to apply for empty dwelling management orders, but these have hit an all-time low amid concerns they are too difficult to administer (see Property Journal, October/November 2019, pp.50 – 51). However, councils in England and Wales have a variety of additional powers regarding empty homes, such as the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Section 215 empowers the council to serve a notice on a building or land that is detrimental to the area.

Other relevant legislation includes: • the Housing Act 2004, which covers

improvement notices, prohibition orders, hazard awareness orders, demolition orders, clearance areas and empty dwelling management orders (bit.ly/HsgAct04) • the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act

1949 (bit.ly/PestsAct49) • sections 79 to 81 of the Environmental

Protection Act 1990 (bit.ly/EPAct90) • section 29 of the Local Government

(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, under which the local authority may undertake works to prevent unauthorised entry to the

building or stop it becoming a danger to public health (bit.ly/LGMiscAct82) • sections 77–79 of the Building Act 1984

(bit.ly/BldgAct84), which empowers the council to apply for a court order in the case of a dangerous or defective building to require the owner to carry out the appropriate remedial work • the Public Health Act 1936, which

consolidates all earlier acts relating to public health (bit.ly/PHAct36).

Local authorities may have compulsory purchase powers under some of the above legislation. They may also prescribe community protection notices or criminal behaviour orders.

Recently, the Welsh government established the Houses into Homes scheme, (gov.wales/apply-empty-homes-loan) which provides interest-free loans to help people renovate empty properties. Although local authorities have powers to identify owners – an expensive and time-consuming process, involving private detectives and tracing companies – they are not always aware that a home is unoccupied. The powers they decide to use will reflect their strategy, desire for speed or concern about costs. It is possible for local authorities to recover debts from owners by using local land charges, for example.

Most councils employ an empty property officer whose job it is to bring vacant homes back to use once they are notified of

its status. When the owner accepts that the property needs to be occupied, the residential surveyor has a valuable role. I have carried out many surveys in England and Wales, mostly RICS level 2 HomeBuyer Reports (Surveys). Almost 30 per cent of these homes are empty, though not necessarily for more than six months, when they are classified as long-term empty.

If an empty property is in a conveyancing chain and in reasonable condition, the owner should consider a RICS condition survey or valuation, which is at level 1 of the new RICS Home survey standard. Although such a property may need some work, it could be restored to a habitable state quite quickly.

Finally, the occupier of a house that is too large for them might have one or more empty rooms. The government has a scheme for renting a room in your home (bit.ly/UKgov-room), and you can get tax relief for doing so.

Recent well-documented figures show that there are more than 200,000 empty homes in the UK. Hopefully, this article offers plenty of suggestions for bringing them back to re-use.

Arthur Bletchly MRICS is director of bValued [email protected]

Related competencies include: Housing management policy, Valuation

The strong arm of the lawArthur Bletchly

An overview of legislation that addresses

empty homes in the UK


http://bit.ly/HsgAct04

http://bit.ly/PestsAct49

http://bit.ly/EPAct90

http://bit.ly/LGMiscAct82

http://bit.ly/BldgAct84

http://bit.ly/PHAct36

http://bit.ly/UKgov-room


Commercial property Technology

Property is a stabilising constant. Owners enjoy the investment security provided by having a tangible asset made of bricks and mortar, but recent years have seen a marked shift in how consumers interact with property. Influenced by aesthetic and economic trends, many occupiers are now viewing renting as the purchase of a service, and to be successful in this period of changing tenant requirements, property businesses need to be agile, flexible, and leverage modern technology within both their buildings and management practices.

Harry Iles manages pan-European property portfolios on behalf of family office clients. Iles cut his teeth with King Sturge as a non-cognate graduate 13 years ago. He studied remotely from Paris and Frankfurt so quickly learned to appreciate the benefits of modern technology. Seven years ago, Iles set up his own firm, Lindenbaum, to advise family offices and high-net-worth individuals on the strategy and management of their portfolios.

On the issue of changing tenant expectations, Iles says that ‘Post Lehmann, occupiers have demanded shorter lease lengths. In the past, a standard office lease committed a tenant for 25 years. Today, landlords are seeing a standard commitment of three years.’

So how does this impact landlords and asset or property managers? Essentially, these changes in occupier demands have reinforced to property owners the idea that commercial real estate is a business like any other. All businesses need to be agile and proactive toward market demands to guarantee long-term profitability. The idea that a landlord needs to provide just four walls and a roof in a sought-after location has been discarded.

Today, an office with a desirable postcode will not guarantee the landlord a high margin as it did in the past. Instead, Iles has found that property businesses which are able to increase their margin by offering a heightened service are succeeding. In the

past, tenants with long leases managed their own costs whereas today, those opting for shorter-term leases often do not want the additional administrative burden and are willing to pay for added extras if there is a perceived rise in value for them. This means that landlords and property managers that have visibility over their profits and losses are able to act quickly and maintain control to create a healthy margin.

Iles understands that these changes are driven by the occupier’s desire for flexibility and the ability to react to dynamic market shifts. ‘Twelve years ago, cost saving and a desire to go paperless prompted hot desking. The TMT start up revolution demands flexibility to grow rapidly. Shorter leases, the rise of co-working and serviced offices bear witness to this.’

Iles believes that building positive relationships with his tenants by delivering them the flexibility they desire has allowed his clients to better control four key factors

The right stuffRichard Kennedy

A surveyor explains how using

technology can help create

an environment of control

to deliver value for tenants


Value-add features such as fast plug-in internet connections, appealing interiors and high energy efficiency ratings are increasingly important

that impact their business’ long-term profitability. These are: tenant retention, the reduction of vacant periods, reduction in rent-free periods, and increased organic growth within buildings. He acknowledges that individually, these factors are not headline news to property businesses but when each is effectively managed, they have an impressive impact on the bottom line. For Iles, controlling these four factors has resulted in an overall reduction in expenses.

In the age of short lease lengths, value-add features such as fast plug-in internet connections, appealing interiors and high energy efficiency ratings are increasingly important to encourage tenants to renew their short lease. If landlords can create an environment where tenants are happy, they are more likely to retain those tenants. It’s simple stuff, but too often ignored. Iles’ experience has taught him that to be successful with this model – and to deliver desirable workspaces – property and asset management teams need smart ways of working to manage these relationships, and report and react quickly to changes in their profits and losses. Iles has found the answer to achieving this within modern technology.

Technology, if done well, can do a lot of heavy lifting and make processes more efficient, Iles says. People think that property is easy to manage and it takes care of itself but it’s actually labour intensive. This is because property is not homogenous; the different needs of tenants provide an arena for a variety of inefficiencies. This is further apparent when we consider the many different parties required to build and manage properties – just consider the inefficiency losses across letting agents, accountants, architects, surveyors and facilities managers. The right technology reduces the time these individuals need to invest in each property so they can be more efficient with their time and work more collaboratively.

Some firms are ahead of the curve and have installed smart technology within their buildings, for example investing heavily in physical smart office technologies, including light and heat sensors that can map usage and better inform their leasing strategies. For many smaller businesses, though, the capital investment required to

achieve this is simply too high a barrier. Iles advises that property businesses should instead look for an easy starting point to introduce technology to improve efficiency within their business.

The portfolios that he works with are an eclectic mix of industrial, office, residential and retail, meaning there is a large volume of diverse information and tenants to keep track of. Iles saw that cloud-based solutions were low-cost entry points which could deliver the heightened service his tenants were demanding. He says: ‘We gained a clearer sense of the health of the portfolio and we quickly reduced our vacancy rate so for a long period of time we achieved 100 per cent occupancy over the entire UK portfolio.’ Having data in one place has allowed Iles’ team to see clearly where they have arrears and to act on those, with automated personalised emails and texts to the tenants.

The adoption of cloud-based technology is likely to deliver workplace mobility to property professionals, which can help them to spend more time with tenants and build the positive relationship required to ensure coveted lease renewals. Information can be quickly retrieved, aiding discussions with agents and tenants. In addition, improved report generation, made possible by technology, keeps Iles’ tenants and clients informed on charges and costs, which has reduced the need to chase payments due to improved visibility.

A benefit of having a higher-quality service by a landlord is improved communication. Only those who have employed the right technology to meet a high volume of tenant queries will be able to maintain the quality of service which has become industry-standard. During periods of economic uncertainty Iles was

speaking to up to 15 tenants each day about their leases and how his business can be flexible to help them to manage cash flow. He stresses that all the conversations and decisions need to be recorded accurately to maintain the quality of service to which their tenants have become accustomed.

Iles was able to help tenants to manage their costs by moving many onto monthly billing. Although this is a burdensome administrative task, having a property management solution in place made this less time consuming. His experience shows that property businesses who use cloud technology are ready to react to changes in the economy to protect the longevity of their tenancies.

Like all companies, property businesses are at the mercy of consumer preference. There are many facets to running a successful property portfolio but landlords and property managers can give themselves an advantage by leveraging technology to improve clarity and communication. Both in-built smart technology and back-office cloud-based management systems act to control the data integrity required to make smart business decisions. Using mobile technology and increasing automation cuts through the administrative noise so that owners can focus on protecting their bottom line. Technology offers transparency and control to allow property businesses to succeed during profitable periods and times of adversity and uncertainty.

Richard Kennedy is the UK managing director at cloud-based property management software provider Re-leased [email protected]

Related competencies: Landlord and tenant, Workplace strategy



Personal property Data

The art world is as rich in data as it is inefficient in organising and mining it. Some would argue that this is deliberate, as information asymmetry enables arbitrages to flourish. Others would explain these inefficiencies as inevitable due to the sector being so atomised and lagging behind in terms of information technology.

This is a tremendous missed opportunity. Looking at other sectors, the size of the EU data economy was estimated to be worth more than €301bn (bit.ly/EuroDat20) in 2018, representing over 2.4 per cent of the EU GDP and is expected to grow to almost 6 per cent of the EU GDP by 2025. A rough extrapolation based on the size of the art trade in 2019 factored by 2018 percentage – around €59bn, excluding services (bit.ly/ArtBaselUBS) – would already generate an extra €1.4bn for the art world.

This is without even speculating on the number of new entrants – as potential collectors and investors – willing to enter the art world but deterred by the opacity of price, fees, etc., and due diligence challenges of authenticity, attribution, ownership, provenance and money laundering affecting what is evidently an inefficient marketplace.

Let’s look at the EU: the European Strategy for Data, one of the first pillars of the EU digital transformation, clearly states that ‘data is an essential resource for economic growth, competitiveness, innovation, job creation and societal progress in general’. The COVID-19 cataclysm destabilising the artworld at the

The art of identifying artworks

Marianne Magnin

A new consortium aims to foster cooperation

and harness technology to improve identification

of artworks and artefacts

http://bit.ly/EuroDat20

http://bit.ly/ArtBaselUBS


The information revolving around each artwork is the backbone of the art market

time of writing re-enforces the case for a new approach to art data.The information revolving around each artwork is the backbone

of the art market; it starts with authorship and authenticity, proof of title, condition reports, exhibition history, whereas market price and transaction logs are only a fraction of what matters when it comes to understanding the lifecycle of each artefact. Artists, collectors and institutions know that trust is the cornerstone.

While regulations such as GDPR and AMLD5 already start to provide a governance framework for the information that relates to individuals and financial transactions, there is no clear pan-industry approach to organise the data related to objects.

The multiplicity of solutions to identify artworks and describe associated provenance events leads to inefficiencies and unsustainable practices across the full spectrum of the art world. Duplication of effort, incompatibility across systems, loss and distortion of information, or asymmetric information are some of the key pitfalls. A unified procedure on the information attached to artefacts would open up opportunities for user-oriented innovations and business activities.

Over the years, companies and organisations have developed independent standards but they neither communicate nor integrate with one another, thus leaving issues such as duplicate records, incomplete data or platform interoperability unresolved. At the same time, each company or organisation expects the rest of the world to adopt their standards.

The Art Identification Standard (AIS) consortium was born out of the vision to build an industry-wide standard for artwork identification. This framework is expected to fundamentally enhance the way artworks are managed, shared and enjoyed.

With more than 20 members at the time of launch in January 2020 the consortium aims to bring together across the art scene, artists, artist estates, art historians, curators, advisors, dealers, commercial galleries, art-tech companies, non-profit organisations, museums, insurers, lawyers, valuation experts and collectors. For the AIS consortium, success in widespread standard adoption relies on its members’ diversity from inception, ensuring that all stakeholders, including those that are not used to working together, such as commercial versus not-for-profit sectors, or not historically well-represented such as artists from minority communities, are invited to the table.

The AIS manifesto sets out clear goals and positions. • Identification and provenance standards that support a

sustainable and fairer art ecosystem, ultimately benefiting its stakeholders. • Unique object identification (artmetrics) is the cornerstone

to provenance. • Artmetics and provenance don’t generate money, they are instead

tools to enhance business models and operating systems. • A common language across the art sector to uniquely identify an

artwork and capture its lifecycle improves the fluidity of exchanges (trust, efficiency, velocity). • Artists need to be empowered by having control of how their data

is used.AIS rules of engagement derive from the manifesto, promoting

transparency of the decision process, diversity of views, respect of all voices, consensus building and democratic mechanisms.

Another critical factor for success is that AIS is a not-for-profit initiative. All members contribute and collaborate in a neutral environment, where no single player owns or manages the data, systems or processes. Critically, AIS acknowledges potential conflicting interests without undermining the value of competition: it is an incentive for commercial creativity as much as public sector innovation to co-exist around a central and shared anchor.

AIS’s third pillar is cutting-edge technology. Blockchain technology solutions make it possible for the industry to create tools to support the development, management and identification of art, both physical and digital. Leveraging blockchain also allows for easier collaboration and decision making, with a view to introducing a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation at some stage, making it an ‘organisation whose decisions are made electronically by a written computer code or through the vote of its members’ (bit.ly/BlockDAO).

How to describe the AIS standard? It is a unique identifier consisting of a series of signs (hash) attached to a given artwork, stored in an unalterable distributed ledger. That ID is not a repository of information but a beacon that has the potential to point to where metadata can be found, hosted elsewhere, whether it is accessible openly or not, free of cost or not. It is making it possible for the sector to not only organise its data better, but to promote new solutions and services by harvesting the benefits of pan-industry protocols to coalesce into a true data economy.

Critically, AIS is not just about exploiting data: it defends and promotes strong values that are going to be even more needed at a time when the traditional models are threatened to their core by COVID-19. AIS establishes a framework for sound and fair collaboration across players, while acting together reflects the social intelligence needed to overcome crises. It puts people first, fostering an environment that equips the weakest with mechanisms to protect their rights and enhance their value proposition, starting with artists with small and medium galleries.

Marianne Magnin is chair and co-founder of AIS, and is also UK managing director at Arteïa [email protected]

Further info: artidstandard.org [email protected]@artidstandard


http://bit.ly/BlockDAO

http://artidstandard.org


Commercial property Leases

Flexible workspace has become a fundamental instrument in the armoury of real estate asset managers. It offers exactly as its name suggests, the ability to change and tailor your workplace quickly and responsively to your business’ needs – as has been showcased so well over the last few years.

The sector suffers somewhat from an identity crisis, with different terminology making it confusing for many. Some call it serviced offices, others call it flex, but if you consider the sector as workplace outsourcing, the full range of benefits becomes easier to understand. Flexible workspace operators deliver the whole workplace experience on behalf of occupiers. This can range from one person hotdesking through to whole headquarters.

This business is not new in the UK and has been around for decades, but there has been significant growth over the last five years, with the sector accounting for 6 per

cent of all office stock in London and 4 per cent in Manchester, compared to the European average of 2 per cent. There are some well-known names responsible for some of this growth, but not all of it, as the sector is fragmented and the choice of solutions available is unmatched elsewhere in the world.

The strength of supply in the UK can to a degree be attributed to the difficulty in being a tenant. Lease lengths are significantly longer than European averages; rent payment is quarterly and dates from medieval times when the King would appoint his servants to collect taxes and rates on the Christian holy days. Service charges must be paid on demand and cannot be challenged until the end of the financial year; dilapidations are often an unknown expense; tenants pay cash deposits of up to 18 months’ rent; rent is reviewed (always upwards) every five years; you must pay stamp duty land tax, deal with

utility suppliers, manage your business rates, repair and maintain your space and even pay for a wayleave to have an internet connection … it is not an easy or pleasant process for occupiers of any size.

One of the main drivers for growth of the flexible workspace sector is a reaction to the outdated model of self-delivery leasehold space. The ease of consumption, reduced operational risk, ease of entry and exit, access to improved working environments, reduced capital expense, reduction in balance sheet liability and cost certainty, are all often more important than just flexibility of term.

One of the biggest surprises to many is that the average stay within flexible workspace is around 35 months. While initial commitments are shorter (typically 12 months), the reality is most companies commit and stay for multiple years. How is this different to a five-year lease with a three-year break? There is even an

Opening doors Tom Sleigh

The current global crisis is likely to accelerate

a more flexible approach to leases across the

commercial property industry


The average stay within flexible workspace is around 35 months

argument that by delivering more than a white box, clients become more reliant on flex operators for all of their office facilities.

It is incredibly hard to predict future headcount of any organisation, and the COVID-19 pandemic has obviously magnified this. Organisations want optionality, rather than 10- or even 15-year commitments. How many people even stay at the same company for more than five years? Work is fluid and decision makers taking commitments which will long outlive their tenure can leave expensive problems for others to tackle in the future.

Perhaps part of the reason there are longer lease terms is that it allows tenants to amortise their fit-out expenses over a longer period, reducing their balance sheet liabilities. The capital sums required to fit out office space are huge, but how many office fit-outs are truly different? Flexible workspace operators deliver space fully fitted and furnished – at times customised – which can dramatically help cashflow.

An increasing trend is for landlords choosing to fit out space on behalf of occupiers. This enables occupiers to touch and feel a real office, rather than a metal tiled floor and empty room. How many occupiers really care about floor depth or air conditioning load factors? The cost of enabling works is often cheaper for landlords than tenants, especially when combining with Category A refurbishments, while the avoidance of rent-free incentives and reduced letting voids funds the upfront investment for landlords. An allowance for dilapidations should also be included, so landlords have funds available at the end of the term to refresh and re-lease the space.

As not all landlords may be able to forward fund these works, it is possible to use computer-generated images and even virtual reality to show possible tenants what a landlord can potentially deliver. The sophistication and adoption of these technologies will only improve in the coming years.

We are also witnessing landlords offering tenants a menu of additional services, including IT connectivity, office facilities management such as cleaning, maintenance, and pantry services, delivered directly or through existing building management

contracts. Of course, there is a tipping point for every landlord about what they are prepared to do; some may want to maintain arms-length arrangement with tenants but others will be very active. The future of leasing and the traditional flexible workspace sectors is going to get closer and the boundaries between become increasingly blurred.

COVID-19 will fundamentally change work forever. At the beginning of 2020, Colliers International predicted that we would see expansion of the regional provision of flexible workspace. We now expect this to accelerate as employers allow their staff to work remotely more frequently, but understand working from home is not always possible. Offering access to shared workspace or having a larger number of smaller private offices nearer employees’ homes could be a solution to the social distancing measures required. I for one am amazed at the improvement in air quality, reduced commuting and finding more balance between work and home life which has come from the lockdown. This may become more important to many employees when considering future job offers, further driving the implementation of distributed workforces.

However, it is not all positive and unfortunately some businesses will inevitably lose out, partly because some flexible operators are not well capitalised, others because of over-expansion, some due to over-reliance on month-to-month memberships and start-ups that are less resilient. We had expected a deceleration in expansion in 2020 and this prediction will sadly come true. We had also expected that to compete there would be a strengthening of services, with operators trying to grab their share of the market by enhancing their offer. This could be via better design,

additional services, award-winning catering, or wellbeing and exercise classes in a bid to entice the work-life balance demands of the younger generation of workers. Operators who focus on the end-user and customer experience will likely be those who emerge stronger from this pandemic.

The flexible workspace sector is more dynamic than the conventional markets, as the relatively shorter commitment terms creates more fluidity. However, pricing structures mean that it can be susceptible to market downturns in advance of the wider market, but also recover faster. This was witnessed after the global financial crisis during 2007-08 and we can expect this to happen again.

The fundamental trends underpinning flexible workspaces are here to stay, and with organisations having to quickly adopt flexible working practices, this trend is likely to remain strong once government-imposed lockdowns are relaxed.

How landlords react to these changes will be fascinating and we expect their offerings to evolve and adapt much quicker than previously imagined as operators compete ever-harder for tenants. I think there will be more fully-fitted and inclusive leases, shorter terms, additional services being included, improvements in building amenities and partnerships with specialist flexible operators who have expertise and pedigree delivering these services.

Ultimately, the human element of work will become more important and everyone should benefit from that.

Tom Sleigh is EMEA head of flexible workspace consulting at Colliers International [email protected]

Related competencies include: Landlord and tenant, Leasing/letting



Residential property Health

Healthy homes

Mike Parrett

How do we assess the risks to health in homes?

Table 1. Comparative costs of common health hazards

Risk factor Total cost burden to the NHS

Physical inactivity £0.9 - £1.0bn

Overweight and obesity £5.1 - £5.2bn

Smoking £2.3 - £3.3bn

Alcohol intake £3.2 - £3.2bn

Housing £1.4 - £2.5bn

SOURCE: BRE THE COST OF POOR HOUSING TO THE NHS

There is a common misunderstanding that health and safety only applies to places of work and public spaces. This perception was reinforced decades ago by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which has had a far-reaching impact on many areas of our lives. Similarly, the UK’s Health and Safety Executive specifically aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health.

We need to look elsewhere, however, for the laws, rules and principles that are intended to keep us safe in our homes.

While this article focuses on social housing, many of the issues also apply and may be more acute, in the private rented and owner-occupier sectors, which are less regulated. The main pieces of legislation that cover safety in the home fall under the following acts of parliament: the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Housing Health & Safety Rating Scheme (HHSRS) and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.

There are also laws and statutes that cover disrepair and latent defects, many of which can render a home or parts of a building unsafe or contribute to the ill health of occupiers. The main acts covering these issues are the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985, the Defective Premises Act 1972 and the Latent Damages Act 1986. In Scotland,

local authorities have the power to issue repair notices to enforce essential repairs on owners of privately-owned property. In addition, the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 covers breaches that relate to latent defects.

One way of assessing the scale and impact of poor health and safety in the home is to look at its cost implications. The BRE briefing paper The cost of poor housing to the NHS, which specifically looks

at social and private rented accommodation across England, is a mine of information in this area (bit.ly/BREpoorhousing).

Table 1 shows that the total cost burden to the National Health Service (NHS) from poor housing could be as high as £2.5bn which places it alongside other, more high-profile problems for the NHS. But how many times do we hear poor housing discussed as a drain on NHS resources compared to obesity, smoking or alcohol? I would suggest that poor housing represents a significant problem that may be more easily tackled than personal health issues, addictions, habits and inactivity.

We can also see in Table 2 – which includes some examples of the costs of certain hazards – that the estimated cost of repairs to fix the main problems associated with ill health and injury in the home would cost more than £10bn, with an overall estimated annual saving to the NHS of almost £1.5bn. This would translate to a payback period of just over seven years. Surely this is a goal worth pursuing as a major infrastructure project.

The HHSRS gives local authorities the power to enforce breaches in homes under the Housing Act 2004. This legislation provides a risked-based assessment tool for use by local authorities, mainly through the public health teams in environmental health departments, to make a standard evaluation of health hazards in the home (see Table 3).

http://bit.ly/BREpoorhousing


may soon apply as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic expenditure.

Business case for changeDespite this, in light of the enormous costs involved in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and the support being given to businesses, individuals and the economy, the cost to substantially improve health in homes is relatively minor and the payback periods are attractive.

Once we are through the pandemic and we settle into a new normal – whatever that looks like – tackling the causes of ill health directly relating to category 1 hazards in the home is surely worthy of government attention as we continue to search for ways to lower the burden on the NHS. Prioritised actions could focus on those categories that have a suitable balance between cost and payback periods.

The scale of addressing category 1 hazards will require a huge, coordinated national effort to identify and mitigate their causes. A multi-disciplinary team could involve housing officers, surveyors, architects, engineers, and repair and maintenance operatives. They should have a full awareness of the issues, especially where vulnerable groups such as younger and older populations and those with medical issues reside. It is about a new culture of ownership of the problems. A coordinated approach should ensure that residents are quickly given the care and attention needed to reduce or eliminate the risks in the home to health.

Health visitors, GPs and homecare personnel could be trained to be more aware of the risks and health hazards to be found in the home. Although chartered surveyors usually apply a risk-based approach to surveys, those surveyors and technicians who are working for registered social landlords should adopt a similar approach to their work in public housing alongside housing officers. They should be encouraged to look beyond identifying defects and hazardous materials to make the important connection between these failings and their impact upon health.

The 29 category 1 hazards are incorporated into the recent Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, part of the

Table 2. Costs and benefits to the NHS of reducing HHSRS category 1 hazards to an acceptable level

HazardNumber of category 1 Hazards

Average repair cost per dwelling (£)

Total cost to rep (£)

Savings to the NHS per annum if hazard fixed (£)

Payback (years)

Excess cold 1,325,088 4,574 6,061,192,123 848,398,538 7.14

Falls on stairs

1,352,837 857 1,159,516,031 207,099,936 5.60

Falls on the level

543,848 780 424,061,206 127,832,318 3.32

Falls between levels

239,930 927 222,382,484 84,308,287 2.64

Fire 128,590 3,632 466,975,19 25,082,026 18.62

Collision and entrapment

74,054 692 51,274,568 15,789,110 3.25

Falls - baths 78,132 521 40,679,153 15,739,628 2.58

Dampness 53,349 7,382 393,817,237 15,585,129 25.27

Hot surfaces

107,168 2,436 261,065,812 15,061,744 17.33

Lead 112,051 1,661 186,099,748 13,883,487 13.40

... ... .... ... ... ...

Any 3,472,765 2,875 10,072,810,155 1,413,370,381 7.13

SOURCE: THE COST OF POOR HOUSING TO THE NHS

stocks to gradually prevent accidents and health issues through earlier interventions.

The scenario reminds me of the holistic ethos in Eastern medicine where much greater emphasis is placed on preventative measures, as opposed to Western cultures that have historically tended to be merely reactive. I feel there is a strong business case to be made but I understand the severe financial restrictions to public finances that

It is, however, a very reactive service, mainly due to the low number of local authority staff assigned to it, and therefore tends to be used as a lever to get landlords to remedy breaches in their repairing covenants or their duty of care in reducing and eliminating risks in their properties.

It is hoped that future local authority budgets will allow more preventative and systematic regular inspections of property



Table 3. The 29 HHSRS category 1 hazards

Hazard Health effects include

1 Damp and mould growthBreathing difficulties; depression and anxiety; asthma, rhinitis, etc; fungal infections

2 Excess coldCardiovascular conditions (e.g. heart attacks and stroke); respiratory diseases (e.g. flu, pneumonia and bronchitis)

3 Excess heat Thermal stress; increase in cardiovascular strain and trauma; strokes

4Asbestos and manufactured mineral fibres (MMF)

Fatal lung cancer, including mesothelioma; MMFs are skin, eye and respiratory irritants and may cause dermatitis

5 BiocidesVarious health problems caused by the inhalation, skin contact or swallowing of chemicals

6Carbon monoxide and fuel combustion products

Headaches; dizziness; nausea; respiratory damage; aggravated asthma; bronchitis; unconsciousness; death

7 LeadToxic effects on the nervous system and blood production; detrimental effects on mental or intellectual development

8 RadiationCancer; malignancies (e.g. leukaemia; acute lymphatic leukaemia; skin cancer)

9 Uncombusted fuel gas Asphyxiation; death

10Volatile organic compounds

Irritation and allergic reactions to the eyes, nose, skin, respiratory tract; headaches; nausea; and dizziness.

11 Crowding and spacePsychological distress and mental disorders; increased heart rate; hygiene risks; spread of contagious disease

12 Entry by intruder Mental harm, stress and anguish; injuries if attacked by a burglar

13 LightingDepression and psychological effects; eyestrain; discomfort; possible photoconvulsive reactions

14 NoiseAggression, annoyance, aggravation and anger; stress and sleep disturbance; lack of concentration and anxiety

15Domestic hygiene, pests and refuse

Gastrointestinal diseases; asthma and other allergic reactions; stress; insect infestations; infections

16 Food safety Food poisoning; diarrhoea; vomiting; dehydration

17Personal hygiene, sanitation and drainage

Gastrointestinal illnesses; skin infections; stomach upsets; dysentery; stress; depression

18 Water supply Gastrointestinal illnesses; respiratory infection; Legionnaires’ disease

19Falls associated with baths

Cuts, lacerations, swelling, bruising, fractures; later onset of cardiorespiratory illnesses, e.g. heart attacks and pneumonia

20 Falling on level surfacesBruising, fractures, head/brain/spinal injuries; later onset of cardiorespiratory problems

21 Falling on stairs or stepsBruising, fractures, head brain or spinal injuries; later onset of cardiorespiratory illnesses, e.g. heart attacks and pneumonia

22 Falling between levels Bruising, puncture injuries and fractures; head, brain and spinal injuries

23 Electrical hazardsBurns; shock effects, e.g. mild tingling sensations, disruption of normal heartbeat or respiratory muscles; death

24 Fire Burns; carbon monoxide poisoning; death

25Flames, hot surfaces and materials

Burn and scald injuries

26 Collision and entrapment Trapping of body parts; striking injuries; cutting or piercing by glass

27 ExplosionsCrushing, bruising, puncture injuries and fractures; head, brain or spinal injuries; scalding

28Position and operability of amenities, etc.

Strain; sprains; fall injuries

29Structural collapse and falling elements

Injuries ranging from minor bruising to death

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Placing these hazards under civil as well as criminal law will have a far-reaching effect on all those involved in the investigation of building defects and the maintenance of buildings.

Perhaps there should be an obligation on registered social landlords, both public and private, to maintain a register of inspections to log remedial actions taken specifically for category 1 hazards. Some social landlords already do this, but the private rental sector is a larger challenge.

All information could be collated and fed back to a central coordinator, perhaps led by the local authority officer responsible for public health. Once the location, extent and nature of all hazards in all homes are identified, a remedial strategy could be developed and costed, and placed into capital improvement or essential repair budgets, which would need to be funded or at least heavily subsidised by the Westminster government.

This would be a huge task but one that would have many benefits and would be another way of improving health, reducing risks, and lessening the work required from GP surgeries and the wider NHS.

Exploring the details of some of the principle category 1 hazards, and looking more closely at the difficulties of reducing or eliminating the risks, will be covered in future articles in this series.

Mike Parrett is a building pathologist, chartered building surveyor and founder of Michael Parrett Associates. He is an eminent fellow of RICS and the lead author on the Damp section of isurv [email protected]

Further Information: Following the Grenfell Tower disaster, an updated version of the HHSRS was published in Housing health and safety rating system: assessment of high-rise residential buildings with cladding systems, 2019, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government

Related competencies: Building pathology, Housing maintenance, repairs and improvements, Housing strategy and provision

Residential property Health

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