You have been asked to prepare a submission as part of your Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors (RICS) Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) structured training. The
submission will be reviewed by your APC supervisor and counsellor.
This is also an opportunity for you as part of your personal development plan to research a
European office market, which you could be aiming to specialise in the long term.
Your submission is for discussion purposes only, so it is not in the form of a professional
report, but appropriate language along with high standards of grammar and spelling is
required. Your submission comprises four parts, each with an equal word count of 1,000
words. The total word count for this coursework is 4,000 words.
a) You recently completed an investment appraisal for an overseas client on an office
building in Buckingham Palace Road, London. You are now to consider what changes, if
any are required to your in-house report and appraisal assuming the client’s lender has
requested a valuation for secured lending purposes. Please discuss fully the considerations
and requirements. (max 1,000 words)
Hints: Red Book valuation, conflicts of interest, registered valuer, terms of engagement,
inspection, measuring, minimum content of Red Book valuation report, bases of valuation,
comparable evidence, method of valuation, duty of care, RICS Rules of Conduct case
studies, inspection, measurement, DCF valuation.
b) You are required to find one existing industrial unit in each of the following four locations
and find the rateable value based on 2017 and 2023 list:-
i. A London Borough,
ii. Birmingham (within 15 miles of the city centre),
iii. Manchester (within 15 miles of the city centre), and
iv. Bristol (within 15 miles of the city centre).
For each unit, you need to calculate the rates payable in 2023/24 and 2024/25 along with
any transitional phasing. You will need to set out your calculations clearly with an
explanation of how you have arrived at these figures. You are also required to explain
Business Rates assuming you are writing to an overseas occupier, looking to lease space in
England for the first time. The occupier is looking to lease units of various sizes so you need
to discuss the methods of calculation for all sizes of units as well as covering any relief that
may be available to the business. (max 1,000 words)
Hints: Identify units through EG Radius, or CoStar, how are rateable values derived,
valuation date, market influences, use the calculation templates provided in the lecture
slides, discuss hereditament, uniform business rate, small business rate, small business
relief, transitional phasing relief,
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c) As part of your report to an overseas investor in January 2024, you undertook research
into the London office market. You now need to compare the London office market in terms
of an investment opportunity to another European City office market of your choice. Which of
the two cities do you consider will provide the best medium-term (5 to 10 year) investment
returns and why? (max 1,000 words)
Hints: Update the research on London offices from January 2024 if new information is
available. Ensure that there is sufficient research on the European city you are discussing.
Look at the larger real estate agency research websites.Exam factors including market size,
demand, supply, rental rates, yields, occupancy rates, and economic conditions
d) Discuss the value of the RICS qualification and the knowledge of the Rules of Conduct,
ethics, and relevant legislation that must be demonstrated by an APC candidate and
maintained by a Chartered Surveyor. (max 1,000 words)
Hints: Review RICS Rules of Conduct, relevant professional standards, legislation, isurv,
client confidence, dispute resolution, and industry reputation..
