Update from Justin Young, RICS CEO - February 2024

Last week, I enjoyed meeting members at the inauguration of Tina Paillet as our 142^nd President. Tina’s wealth of experience across the industry, and in a wide variety of countries, reflects the roles and backgrounds of many of our members and I look forward to working with her.

The inauguration reaffirmed that RICS is a member-led organisation. A good example of this is our new Professional Group Panels (PGPs). Some extremely talented and experienced people have joined the panels, which cover Construction, Valuation, Land and Natural Resources, Residential, Commercial, and Building Surveying and Control. Every RICS member will have opportunities to share views and ideas on the various technical aspects of the profession. This, in turn, will contribute to developing standards, guidance and skills requirements, and shaping our approach to wider topics, such as sustainability.

New governance appointments

We’ve also appointed two more members to the RICS Board. Douglas McCormick will chair the Membership Services Committee, while Kelly Olsen brings digital and technology expertise. Douglas is a longstanding RICS member, previously executive chair at Gleeds, CEO at Sweett Group and a Group MD at Atkins, and currently on the board of the Institute for Collaborative Working. Kelly has been a CIO and COO for a range of public and private organisations, including in property and infrastructure.

External perspective is also important to our public interest role, so I am delighted that we have secured two excellent people for RICS Governing Council. Liz Peace CBE brings huge experience from 13 years heading the British Property Federation and chairing the Government Property Agency, as well as other boards. She is now Senior Independent Governor, also serving on the RICS Board. Gurpreet Dehal is Independent Member of Council, having served in a wide range of leadership roles in finance, education, and infrastructure. You can read more about their backgrounds on our website.

On a similar note, a new vision for RICS’ Standards and Regulation Board (SRB) is taking shape following the appointment of Nigel Clarke as permanent Chair in late 2023. The SRB is recruiting for five RICS member and five independent positions for its permanent board. As members of the SRB, new appointees will take their place upholding sector-leading standards, developing a consistent, global regulatory strategy, and overseeing implementation across all world regions.

Sustainability and public interest work

Tina’s inauguration focussed on sustainability, a key strategic area for RICS. At COP28 in December, we worked with international partners to support the Buildings Breakthrough Initiative, which brings together nearly 30 countries, accounting for a third of global population, two-thirds of GDP and half of carbon emissions. They have agreed to make near-zero emissions and climate-resilient buildings the new normal by 2030.

The surveying profession, across all its specialisms, is vital to achieving this, working at every stage of the building and infrastructure life cycle. Governments know this, and, when they meet in Paris in March to turn pledges into plans, they have invited RICS to contribute to their deliberations. We’ll be emphasising how our Whole Life Carbon Assessment standard is a ready-to-use methodology for understanding and managing carbon emissions, in any country and for any project in the built environment.

Finally, last week I attended a planning reform roundtable with UK Housing Minister, Lee Rowley. I shared the recommendations of the RICS Manifesto, highlighting the risks associated with proposals on Permitted Development Rights, the Infrastructure Levy and the Green Belt. RICS is continuing to represent the profession, shape the debate and provide leadership that supports members and the public interest.