Moving on to the topic of valuations and chartered surveying, here Campbell D Ferguson, FRICS, the Director of Survey Spain, a firm that has been carrying out valuations throughout Spain for the last 13+ years, discusses the valuation considerations expert witnesses have to make in the specialised field of chartered surveying.
What is the role of an expert witness in property valuation in Spain?
To provide clients with professionally qualified valuation reports according to CPR 35/FPR 25 statements, as they would expect to receive in the UK.
What kind of legal cases are you commonly appointed for?
Most are as sole joint expert witness in matrimonial proceedings for UK Courts. Others relate to residential and commercial properties, in relation to actions by the NCA, local Government and HMRC.
In your years of experience, how have you seen this expert witness field evolve?
Increased realisation that there are RICS Valuers resident and working in Spain.
How does Survey Spain ensure its expert witness analysis are thorough, fast and of the best standard?
Compliance with RICS regulations and ethical and professionally conscientious work.
What would you say makes Survey Spain the go-to expert witness in this field?
We have the necessary Expert Witness qualifications and experience and a team of British trained RICS Valuers with many years’ experience living and working in Spain, reporting in English.
How does the work of RICS Valuers in Spain differ from those in the UK?
In UK, it's possible to get the recent registered sale prices for specific properties off the Internet. There are thousands of surveyors, so their particular 'patch' is usually quite small. Spain is substantially larger and less densely populated than the UK. Accordingly, valuers usually have to travel substantial distances and times to inspect a property that may have a reduced value because of its remoteness.
In Spain, the registry information is not publicly available and even if it was, unfortunately, it could not be relied upon as being accurate. Many properties are adapted, some legally and others without permission and these alterations may not be registered on the title description. Historically, many total price submissions are incorrect. Money laundering laws have made the situation more regulated and accurate.
RICS valuers in Spain work in the same way as their UK colleagues in comparing properties. Due to the lack of reliable sales evidence, the values have to be calculated by comparison with those currently being marketed. The valuer has to have skill and experience in order to choose appropriate comparisons (especially as agents and owner sales information can vary considerably in its accuracy, due to accident, laziness, naivety or sometimes deliberate exaggeration), and then adjust those prices to allow for the strength of the market. Survey Spain prepares a quarterly report which analyses the discount from asking price to actual sale price, which is the vital element for both valuers and buyers.
As RICS valuers in Spain, we have gained a detailed knowledge of how things work and to develop the 'art' of judging information as to its accuracy and reliability. We have to gather many more comparisons than our UK colleagues and research those in more detail in order to gauge what the average prudent person would pay for a particular property. In judging the 'prudent' person, we have also to take into account that the sellers and potential buyers may be going or coming from a radically differently performing economy and currency than Spain's and the euro. That alone can make some sellers more prepared to drop their prices below the 'market' level or buyers be willing to offer more in order to make sure of a purchase.
