Discovering Property Policy - 02/02/2010

The Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in Scotland recently commissioned University of Glasgow academics to undertake research into property policy under the Scottish Executive (SE), covering the period 1999-2007.

The analysis involved the study over 60 relevant publications produced by SE and its agencies in this period, in addition to conducting interviews with senior civil servants and arranging focus groups with experienced property professionals.

The key findings from the report are as follows:

• the development industry is seen as a potentially lucrative source of funding for investment that previously might have been met by the public purse
• although the Executive had a general desire to promote investor confidence, it gave little attention to property funding and investment issues
• an apparent policy interest in landlord-tenant relations turned out to be wholly devoted to the residential sector
• landowners were seen as an important actor in the development process, although property management received only passing mention
• virtually no mention was made of the word ‘market’ in relation to property, other than when connected to the word ‘housing’

The full paper is available for download from the RICS website at the following link:

Website: www.rics.org/site/download_feed.aspx?fileID=5753&fileExtension=PDF