Document downloads - Planning policy
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Surveyors acting as advocates
Published February 2017
Effective from 1 June 2017
The professional statement sets out the core duties expected of the surveyor-advocate. It applies where you agree (whether in writing or orally) to act as a surveyor-advocate before any tribunal in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
The guidance note offers guidance on fundamental aspects of advocacy practice. It outlines general duties and roles and offers best practice advice on, among other things, case preparation and preliminaries, evidence and documents, and hearings.
A client guide (a stand-alone electronic version of the professional statement) is also available. -
Contamination, the environment and sustainability: Implications for chartered surveyors and their clients (ARCHIVE)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
The challenges presented by contaminated land and environmental issues, such as the flood risk caused by climate change, and the need to live in a more sustainable way mean that the demand for best advice has never been more important. Surveyors are uniquely placed to provide this advice to clients in all property sectors.
This guidance note aims to support and guide the professional activities both of those who are already highly proficient in this area and also those who are less experienced.
This publication was reviewed and a new standard was published in 2018: 'Environmental risk and global real estate'. -
Dilapidations
Published September 2016 (E&W) and March 2015 (Scotland)
Effective from December 2016 (E&W) and March 2015 (Scotland)
Reissued December 2023
This professional standard seeks to advise members on the factors they should take into consideration when producing Schedules of Dilapidations, Quantified Demands, Responses, Scott Schedules and Diminution Valuations for reference to or use by the client, the other party to the lease, third parties and tribunals.
Dilapidations in England and Wales was reissued in December 2023 as a professional standard. It had previously been published in September 2016 as a guidance note. No material changes have been made to the document.
Dilapidations in Scotland was reissued in December 2023 as a professional standard. It had previously been published in March 2015 as a guidance note. No material changes have been made to the document. -
Direct professional access to barristers (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
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Planning enforcement (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
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The making of planning applications (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
Any questions relating to its status and application should be addressed to the relevant RICS Professional Group. -
Surveyors acting as expert witnesses
Published April 2014
Effective from 2 July 2014
Reissued February 2023
Surveyors acting as expert witnesses, 4th edition, applies to surveyors when providing expert evidence, whether oral or written, before a range of courts and tribunals in the UK,
The practice statement sets out the mandatory duties of a surveyor in providing evidence, while the guidance note provides further information on good practice, including: the need for clear instructions and terms of engagement; fees; guidance on what to do in situations of conflict of interest; an outline of the written report format; clarification of the differences between the roles of expert witness and advocate; and the immunity of the expert witness.
A stand-alone electronic version of this practice statement (without the guidance note) is also available for potential use with clients in connection with the particular requirement of PS 3.3.
This document was amended in February 2023 to remove wording from PS10 and GN19 which could be read as prohibiting expert witnesses from taking instructions from solicitors who are engaged on a conditional fee, even if the expert is instructed on an unconditional fee basis. This was not the intention of RICS and has therefore been amended for clarity. -
Waste management – a guide to landfill (ARCHIVE)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
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Spatial planning and infrastructure delivery (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
Spatial planning has a central role in the planning and delivery of infrastructure. It is concerned with all investment and includes the private, public and community sectors. This extended role in infrastructure planning and delivery now sits within the whole governance structure at the local level, which is increasingly being joined up and coordinated. Spatial planning also extends to the use of all public sector assets and the location of services and facilities. It is concerned with all public sector mainstream budgets, as well as funding from agencies such as the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), private investment and developers' contributions. -
Energy from waste (ARCHIVED)
This information paper is now out of date and held on isurv for information purposes only.
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Planning Act 2008: Delivering infrastructure (ARCHIVED)
This information paper is now out of date and held on isurv for information purposes only.
The Planning Act 2008 aimed to enable more effective consideration and delivery of nationally important infrastructure. It also provided for a levy system for contributions towards community infrastructure generally at a local level but in the case of London, at a strategic level too.
In view of the ongoing development of the provisions made within the Planning Act 2008, this RICS information paper was time sensitive and should only be used as a guide to the broad framework developed at the time the Act was published. -
Provision of countryside access: Strategic planning, co-ordination and agri-environment schemes (RICS)
Published 2003
This paper investigates the extent to which strategic planning, provision and co-ordination of access between access providers is already taking place, the extent to which new access (statutory and non-statutory) is being provided at a local level and how voluntary access under agri-environment schemes is contributing to overall access provision. -
Financial viability in planning (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
Financial viability has become an increasingly important material consideration in the planning system. While the fundamental purpose of good planning extends well beyond financial viability, the capacity to deliver essential development and associated infrastructure is inextricably linked to the delivery of land and viable development. -
Dilapidations (Hong Kong) (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
This publication is an adaptation of the RICS guidance note: Dilapidations, 6th edition (England and Wales), providing guidance to RICS members operating in Hong Kong.
It is intended to: adapt UK best practices for RICS members in Hong Kong dealing with dilapidations in leased premises, particularly dilapidation claims, forfeiture and break clauses in the lease/tenancy, and dispute settlement; and introduce a Schedule of Dilapidation (SD) Scheme to deal with dilapidations in Hong Kong. -
Innovative finance for real estate development in Pan-European regeneration (RICS)
Published March 2015
A critical review and analysis of innovative financial instruments for real estate development in Western Europe: the UK, Germany and Holland. This research outcomes will be useful to EU and European national policy makers in public finance and real estate development.
RICS research content is available to everyone, free of charge on the RICS website. Non-members will need to register. RICS members and registered non-members will need to login to see the particular research items. See also the full list of RICS research held on rics.org -
Financial viability in planning: conduct and reporting
Published May 2019
Effective from 1 September 2019
Reissued April 2023
This 1st edition professional standard sets out mandatory requirements that inform the practitioner on what must be included within financial viability assessments and how the process must be conducted.
This is to demonstrate how a reasonable, objective and impartial outcome, without interference, should be arrived at, and so support the statutory planning decision process. It also aims to support and complement the government's reforms to the planning process announced in July 2018 and subsequent updates, which include an overhaul of the National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Practice Guidance on viability and related matters.
The new policy and practice advice prioritises the assessment of viability at the plan-making stage and identifies existing use value as the starting point for assessing the uplift in value required to incentivise the release of land.
Given that planning applications involve a statutory process that is subject to public scrutiny, the requirements in this professional standard are important in providing public confidence in a process that is inevitably complex, but nevertheless must inform the planning decision-maker.
This document was reissued in April 2023 as a professional standard. It had previously been published in May 2019 as a professional statement. No material changes have been made to the document. -
Assessing viability in planning under the National Planning Policy Framework 2019 for England
Published March 2021
Effective from 1 July 2021
Reissued April 2023
This professional standard is intended to help professionals working in planning and development to apply the government’s national planning policy for England, which is currently focused on delivering 300,000 dwellings per annum. The government is trying to balance the need to deliver local plan objectives that affect us all with ensuring land for development comes forward. It has prescribed a way to assess viability for this purpose and helps professionals in the sector to do this faster and more transparently. It also responds to Judge Holgate’s suggestion that RICS produce additional guidance in this area of practice.
This document was reissued in April 2023 as a professional standard. It had previously been published in March 2021 as a guidance note. No material changes have been made to the document.