Surveyors’ records could help price index

Surveyors’ records could help price index

The way the Index is calculated by the States statistics unit has come under fire recently because it includes properties that are unrepresentative of the total market.

hartered surveyors Geoffrey A Wills provides valuation and structural surveys for high street banks and mortgage brokers, last year in excess of 1,000 instructions alone.

heir records contain details of hundreds of valuations, enabling them to compare individual properties over time accurately and more independently than estate agents.

If our valuation is found to be inaccurate we can be held liable,’ said Geoffrey Wills, who started the Mulcaster Street practice ten years ago after some years as a lecturer at Highlands College.

he firm now boasts three fully qualified surveyors – Mr Wills, associate Geoffrey Blackstone, and Gary Le Feuvre, who has successfully completed the assessments leading to membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

r Le Feuvre has been studying towards the qualification for a total of five years.

This involved a three-year correspondence course to complete the diploma followed by two years of professional assessments in three different subjects, including practical assignments.

t has meant a change of career for Mr Le Feuvre, who previously ran his own heating and plumbing business but decided to pursue a profession in valuation after a stint at an international firm of estate agents.

I needed a new challenge,’ he says, although admitting that studying can be stressful at times and has meant putting in many extra hours outside of the working day.

As with many professional examinations the qualification requires the knowledge of UK legislation, although Jersey and Guernsey law may be different.

That local knowledge is traditionally passed on by those working in the Jersey market.

r Wills said that although the firm had never been approached by the States statistics unit at the Policy and Resources Department, he would be pleased to pass on specialist information kept on record over the ten-year period, which also tracks changing trends in house purchase.

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