Value to the Valuers

Crashes in property markets were isolated as a major cause and Professor Neil Crosby and Reading’s Real Estate and Planning Department are having a major impact on policy and practice, working with the Bank of England (BoE) and the UK property industry in developing property valuation techniques that aid the financial stability agenda. This work is attracting attention from outside the UK and Professor Crosby is also working with RICS Europe and TeGOVA in developing guidance on implementing new models of valuation.

The work has an important objective: to stop a major downturn in property markets causing a potential collapse of the banking system, because of over-lending in boom markets secured on real estate. By working closely with the BoE and the commercial property industry, Professor Crosby is developing new methods and models to enable lending policies to react against the cycle of boom and bust.

Professor Crosby’s work has been promoted within the BoE via a consultancy contract and within industry by working on the Cross Industry Group working party on Long term Valuations. He has delivered papers and keynote speeches, promoting engagement by a multitude of stakeholders, in the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe and Australia. He is also the main author of the Cross Industry report on Long Term Valuations and his work with the BoE is published in the periodic BoE Financial Stability Report, commencing in December 2015.

Upon its completion, the UK and other central banks will have mechanisms for the accurate assessment of cyclical real estate markets, lenders will have better tools for assessing individual property loans and valuers will be able to provide a longer-term valuation perspective. The wider beneficiaries are the borrowers and the taxpayers: borrowers will be less likely to be provided with inappropriate, unsustainable loans, while taxpayers will avoid having to bail out failing banks unable to survive the impact of any future property downturns.