English Professional Societies in Real Estate
| Author | H. Morton Bodfish |
| Published date | 01 March 1930 |
| Date | 01 March 1930 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271623014800108 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
33
English
Professional
Societies
in
Real
Estate
By
H.
MORTON
BODFISH
Assistant
Professor
of
Economics,
Northwestern
University;
Director,
Consultation
Bureau,
National
Association
of
Real
Estate
Boards,
Chicago,
Illinois
THE
real
estate
business
as
an
or-
ganized
occupation
is
somewhat
more
specialized
and
is
considerably
older
in
England
than
in
the
United
States.
In
general,
the
business
has
matured
in
that
country.
It
is
char-
acterized
by
less frequent
alienation
of
land;
more
term
contracts,
such
as
leases;
less
subdividing,
or
estate
devel-
opment,
as
it is
called
there;
and
more
attention
to
the
management
aspects
of
the
business.
Finally,
real
estate
op-
erations
in
England
are
considerably
more
complex
than
in
this
country
because
of
numerous
legislative
require-
ments,
such
as
rent
acts,
peculiar
rating
and
valuation
statutes,
town
planning,
and
housing
regulations.
THE
REAL
ESTATE
BUSINESS
IN
ENGLAND
Thus,
the
maturity
of
the
real
estate
business
in
England
furnishes
the
back-
ground
for
English
professional
so-
cieties.
These
societies
are
of
interest
in
so
far
as
they
may
indicate
possible
trends
in
this
country,
as
our
real
estate
business
shifts
from
the
pioneer
devel-
opment
stage
to
an
operation
or
a
management
basis.
The
English
societies
will
be
de-
scribed
as
they
are
now
organized
and
functioning,
with
particular
attention
to
the
examination
system,
which
is
the
heart
of
the
English
professional
idea.
The
general
scope
and
type
of
the
busi-
ness
in
England
will
be
indicated
as
the
individual
societies
are
described.
The
officers
and
membership
of
English
societies
consider
their
business
dis-
tinctly
a
profession
and
feel
that
through
the
societies
they
have
at-
tained
a
professional
status.
These
societies
do
not
include
all
those
en-
gaged
in
the
business,
but
like
trade
organizations
in
this
country
they
do
include
the
eminent
practitioners
and
most
of
the
prominent
individuals
in
the
business.
There
are
four
important
so-called
professional
societies
operating
in
the
British
Isles.
Three
of
them
are
ma-
ture
and
are
generally
regarded
as
the
leaders.
Their
standards
and
actions
dominate
the
business.
The
oldest
and
the
first
to
acquire
a
&dquo;professional&dquo;
basis
is
the
Surveyors’
Institution.
The
others
are:
the
Auctioneers’
and
Estate
Agents’
Institute
of
the
United
Kingdom;
the
Land
Agents’
Society;
and
the
Incorporated
Society
of
Auc-
tioneers
and
Landed
Property
Agents.
For
brevity,
these
will
be
spoken
of
as
&dquo;the
Surveyors’
Institution,&dquo;
&dquo;the
Institute,&dquo;
&dquo;the
Land
Agents’
So-
ciety,&dquo;
and
&dquo;the
Incorporated
So-
ciety.&dquo;
These
abbreviations
are
in
accordance
with
general
parlance
in
England.
It
should
be
noted
here
that
many
individuals
hold
membership
in
two,
and
in
rare
cases
three,
of
the
so-
called
professional
bodies.
As
our
English
friends
continually
speak
of
the
business
as
&dquo;the
profession,&dquo;
the
fol-
lowing
descriptions
will
use
the
word
as
they
use
it,
although
there
are
some
needed
qualifications
which
will
be
pointed
out
later.
THE
SURVEYORS’
INSTITUTION
The
term &dquo;surveyor&dquo;
as
used
by
the
Surveyors’
Institution
1 has
a
breadth
1
The
society
occupies
an
extensive
and
in-
viting
building
at
12
Great
George
Street,
West-
34
not
customary
in
the
United
States.
The
bounds
of
the
profession
are
sug-
gested
in
the
following
excerpt
from
its
charter:
[Surveying
is]
the
art
of
determining
the
value
of
all
descriptions
of
landed,
mineral,
and
house
property,
and
of
the
various
in-
terests
therein;
the
practice
of
managing
and
developing
estates;
and
the
science
of
admeasuring
and
delineating
the
physical
features
of
the
earth
and
of
measuring
and
estimating
artificers’
work.
The
older
and
the
more
popularly
known
branch
of
the
work,
the
measur-
ing
of
tracts
of
land,
is
practically
con-
fined
to
the
measuring
of
parcels
for
building
development.
The
activities
of
the
members
of
the
Surveyors’
Institution
can
be
classified
in
four
groups.
The
intending
sur-
veyor
chooses
the
one
which
he
prefers
to
follow,
and
his
training
depends
to
a
considerable
extent
upon
his
decision.
Naturally,
these
subdivisions
reflect
the
specialization
which
takes
place
within
the
organization
itself.
Land
Agency.
The
management
of
country
estates,
which
requires
a
knowledge
of
agriculture,
forestry,
land
drainage,
tenant-right
valuations,
con-
struction
and
upkeep
of
farm
buildings,
law
and
procedure
with
regard
to
im-
perial
and
local
taxation,
the
Agricul-
tural
Holdings
Acts,
and
other
statutes
dealing
with
agricultural
land.
Valuation
of
Urban
Agency.
The
management
and
the
development
of
urban
estates,
town
planning,
road-
making,
sale
and
letting
of
house
and
commercial
property,
dilapidations,
su-
pervision
of
repairs,
sanitation,
valua-
tions,
Acts
of
Parliament
dealing
with
buildings,
and
so
forth,
in
towns.
Building
and
Quantity
Surveying.
For
this
division
is
needed
a
knowledge
of
building
construction
and
the
prep-
aration
of
builders’
quantities,
ability
to
advise
on
alteration
of
buildings,
to
supervise
building
and
sanitary
works,
to
advise
on
party-walls,
air
and
light,
and
so
on,
or
to
settle
building
contracts.
Mining
Surveying.
This
division
is
the
most
clearly
specialized
of
the
four.
It
involves
advanced
technical
knowl-
edge
of
surveying
and
training
in
min-
ing
law,
geology,
and
so
forth.
In
actual
practice
members
of
the
Surveyors’
Institution
often
combine
Land
Agency
with
Urban
Agency
or
Urban
Agency
with
Building
and
Quantity
work.
HISTORY
OF
THE
SURVEYORS’
INSTITUTION
The
Surveyors’
Institution
is
the
oldest
of
the
professional
societies.
Its
standards
are
possibly
the
most
exacting
and
many
of
its
policies
are
followed
in
substance
by
the
other
so-
cieties.
Its
history
is
pertinent,
there-
fore,
as
illustrative
of
the
story
of
the
evolution
of
the
English
professional
society.
The
business
of
the
land,
its
manage-
ment,
development,
and
treatment
of
the
interests
therein,
emerged
about
sixty-five
years
ago
as
a
distinctly
specialized
undertaking
or
business.
The
introduction
of
railways,
land
en-
closures,
and
great
industrial
develop-
ment
of
urban
areas
had
created
the
opportunity
for
specialized
services.
The
initial
organization
of
men
deal-
ing
distinctly
with
problems
of
the
land
other
than
agricultural
procedure
seems
to
have
occurred
in
179~
A
small
group
of
architects
and
surveyors,
mainly
from
the
great
city
companies
in
London,
comprised
its
fifteen
mem-
bers.
This
organization
still
flourishes
minster,
London.
I
have
given
the
address
of
the
principal
offices
of
the
several
societies,
although
I
hope
that
our
very
courteous
English
friends
will
not
be
imposed
upon
by
too
extended
inquiries.
2
The
architects
and
engineers
in
England
established
professional
societies
in
1818
and
1834,
respectively.
To continue reading
Request your trial