What other insights have you gained from this work? The importance of friends, integrity and the good people you work with. Whether you are a client or an adviser, it is the combination of the individuals that creates the team, and good teams are successful and a pleasure to work with. Many people say they will not work with friends, but I only ever work with people I am able to refer to as friends. What changes have you observed in the real estate sector during your time as a surveyor? Too many to remember, let alone comment on. What has been the constant are people and their expertise. The good operators can adapt regardless of the circumstances and have a steely determination which is focused but brings everyone into their sphere of influence and confidence. The biggest changes in my career have been government intervention in markets often suffering from the laws of unexpected consequences, the focus on property for government policy and greater taxation, and the spread of 15 AUG 2022 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM live, work and play and which are run with the provision of local services such as education, medical and police run the risk of becoming backwaters. I fear the current government sustainability programme for existing buildings may result in a swathe of redundant property creating a significant underutilisation of existing stock as a factor of production with the consequent economic impact and greater damage to the environment – not less. Business Start-up businesses by private individuals will be difficult to finance and maintain. Those that can grow will be increasingly burdened by administrative and statutory requirements, snuffing out entrepreneurial thoughts and activities. The winning businesses will be those that get their teams to work together regularly and not sat in front of a screen at home in isolation, bringing teamwork to the fore and allowing new and inexperienced staff to be trained by the involvement and availability of experienced staff on site. Workers will have to learn to live closer to where they work, meaning that retailers will win physical trading where they focus on centres that have a local population or on larger centres where the environment is an exciting and dynamic one. Investment There is a lack of understanding of how property markets work, which will result technology – such as the development of communication technology from the fax machine to today’s smartphones and computer-based working, and databased companies who take information from the market and then sell the same information back to the market. On the positive side, I have seen improvements in Industry training, qualification standards and CPD/LLL, but the negatives are loss of wider thought and language precision, siloing of individuals within corporates, a reduction in direct business and social contact with the associated loss of camaraderie and understanding, and the dilution of reliable market journals and accurate reporting standards. Do you have any predictions for trends that may soon emerge? Nothing that has not been considered by many, but the key guesses I have about the future from a property perspective are as follows: General It will become a more frightening world to operate within as trading blocs become more politically motivated, with the potential for greater conflict arising such as the current war in Ukraine and the tension between China and Taiwan. We may see the emergence of a new cold war era as energy and water will become resources that economic blocs will fight over. The elderly will be forced to work beyond the increased retirement age because of rising costs of day-to-day living, medical needs and care, and the individual will become subject to closer daily scrutiny. Electronic formats will become dominant but lead to a number of social classes being excluded. Many of the poor standard apartment blocks that have been built since the 1990s will become the slums of today as property development and the creation of modern property-based factors of production will become increasingly nationalised by quota and taxation provisions. Those town centres that do not create mixed uses and communities where people If you are going to teach others, you must know the subject yourself – an exceptionally good discipline.
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