BestAdvice fires the questions at Matthew Cumber, managing director of Countrywide Surveying Services

BestAdvice (BA): Via your training academy, you’ve now brought over 400 graduates into the surveying industry. How important is bringing new blood into the industry and what else can you and the industry do to attract more talent?

Matthew Cumber (MC): There’s an ongoing skills shortage throughout the industry and this highlights how integral the CSS training academy is both for our future and that of the wider surveying sector.

In my opinion, larger surveying firms have a responsibility to attract and train the next generation. If this doesn’t happen, there’s a real risk that we won’t be able to keep up with demand as the older generation of surveyors retire. Any personnel gap will inevitably result in longer turnaround times going forward which is the last thing that any link in the mortgage journey wants.

When it comes to attracting new blood, there are no quick fixes. As an industry, we need to ensure that there’s a consistently attractive and accessible pathway for those who have an interest in our industry, whatever stage they’re at in their careers. And this is a pathway which all firms need to be contributing to in whatever capacity they can.

BA: Over the last 18 months, you have developed new types of survey reports like PropertyFact and EnergyFact. What else is on the horizon and how do they impact upon the traditional valuation report?

MC: Moving forward, further enhancements to our valuation and risk decisioning engine, PropertyFact will provide lenders with access to unrivalled levels of data and property insight.

Data is a fundamental component within the surveying process and with the availability of data growing exponentially so too does the opportunity to offer our lender clients more choice and more certainty with faster turnaround times.

This means that we will see a further shift towards alternative valuation methods, increasingly without the need for the valuer to physically inspect the property in more straightforward transactions. However, let me offset this by saying that we are also likely to see an increased focus in more specialist areas such as HMOs, new build and equity release. Areas which do require a greater amount of human intervention.

So, whilst technology is vital for the future of our sector, so too are the people who gather, deliver and interpret the data.

BA: How do you feel valuers will have to adapt to ongoing ESG considerations that lenders will have to assess when deciding on lending and do you feel enough is being done by the industry at present?

MC: Lenders and valuers have to work closely to provide guidance and information around the impact of the significant climate change challenge. This is whilst also recognising and addressing the end goal of educating and supporting new borrowers and homebuyers who are looking to reduce emissions and make their homes more energy efficient.

The ESG agenda is at the core of everything we do as a business. We are serious about reducing our impact and developing a comprehensive strategy to deliver a variety of services in a sustainable and responsible way to our customers, while engaging with all our stakeholders in this journey.

We continue to lead the ESG agenda within the surveying industry and this is evident in the creation of a sustainability department and through the significant upskilling of our surveyor workforce to meet ongoing sustainability demands.

BA: You’ve recently created a new role of Residential Property Assessors (RPAs), how do you see this role evolving and what’s the reaction been since you announced this?

MC: The position of a Residential Property Assessor was developed to increase business capacity, service growing client demand and attract new talent into the surveying sector, all areas in which the sector has previously been criticised for not delivering on.

Through working with intelligent data capture and software, in addition to improved risk profiling through a powerful decisioning engine coupled with risk perils data, this allows lenders to adopt a variable LTV risk profile across a range of service offerings. And with the valuation and lender report produced by a local RICS Registered Valuer, there is no additional risk to the client.

The reaction has been hugely positive so far. However, as with any new role, its ongoing effectiveness is being closely monitored and we are working diligently with lending partners to ensure they are heavily involved in the success and evolution of this role.

BA: How do you see the role of the valuer evolving?

MC: The various stages of the pandemic highlighted just how important the valuation process is to the overall success and health of the housing and mortgage markets. This also underlined the simple fact that all properties need some form of valuation.

Like any sector, it’s vital to evolve and – as outlined earlier – data and technology will play an increasingly prominent role in any property transaction. But this does not diminish from the vast levels of skill, experience, knowledge and value which are constantly being demonstrated by a good surveyor.

There will always be a place for a physical valuation and a requirement for the human touch, especially as the mortgage market and borrowing scenarios become increasingly complex. Not just to value but advice and sustainability will play an even bigger role in both condition reporting and in valuations going forward.