Nama chairman upstages surveyors

A VISITING delegation of surveyors from the UK this week must have been a little dismayed when the utterings of their guest speaker…

A VISITING delegation of surveyors from the UK this week must have been a little dismayed when the utterings of their guest speaker hoovered up all the media limelight.

After all it was only the first time in its 150-year history that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors had held its annual International Governing Council meeting outside the UK.

But on Monday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin, the talk was of little other than Frank Daly, chairman of NAMA.

He called for the new register of residential property sale prices to be extended to cover commercial properties, and he also made soundings about reasons to be cheerful re the residential property market.

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Institution was proudly announcing a register of its own. Its Valuer Registration scheme is a welcome attempt to ensure property valuers are monitored and audited to international standards.

The idea of the scheme, which will be rolled out here through the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland is that it will minimise the risks associated with property valuations for financial institutions and their customers. Is that the stable door we hear slamming?