Incoming RICS president Michael Newey has defended the organisation’s £489 a year membership fee.
Newey, group chief executive of Norwich-based Broadland Housing Group, addressed the ongoing criticism from some surveyors about the high cost of the fees: “I recognise the criticism when I’m out in the regions in the UK… we are continually listening to our members … [who] accept that there is a real commercial advantage in being a chartered member.
“They also reply on us to be good stewards of our resources so we have to [have] better communication to explain to members how we are using their subscription income in maintaining the status of their qualification,” he said.
Newey, the first social housing president of the RICS and who takes over from Alan Collett on 1 July, also called on the government for better housing policy and he said the RICS would continue to push for the regulation of letting agents.
“We want to see the increase of professionalisation of that sector [letting agents]. We are huge believers that one of the duties of the RICS is protection of the public and we feel there are vulnerabilities there.”
Newey, has spent 32 years in property, where he started in commercial, before moving to social housing 16 years ago.
“I bring a fundamental belief in the mission of the RICS, which is about standards and about status,” he added.
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