Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment: Property Valuations

This guide brings together resources specific to students, staff and researchers from the Faculty of Computing, Engineering, and the Built Environment.

Comparable evidence is at the heart of virtually all real estate valuations. The process of identifying, analysing and applying comparable evidence to the real estate to be valued is, therefore, fundamental to producing a sound valuation that can stand scrutiny from the client, the market and, where necessary, the courts (RICS, 2019: 3).

Such evidence should be recent, relevant and comprehensive and may come from a variety of sources, one of which, according to the RICS Guidance on Comparable Evidence in Real Estate Valuation, is published databases. These are listed below. The other sources are direct transactional evidence, publicly available information (from UK government, real estate agents' websites, media sources), asking prices and historic evidence.

EG Radius (Estates Gazette Radius)

Estates Gazette Radius This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
News, analysis, videos and podcasts on industrial, leisure, office, residential and retail real estate and property

The EG Radius data exchange model is backed by the UK real estate industry.

Developers use EG Radius to source development sites and appraise site opportunities. Surveyors use EG Radius to advise clients and provide valuations.

You will need to register for an account.
Use the link provided on the A-Z of Databases and enter your university email address.

News articles

The subscription gives you access to Estates Gazette's news articles which you can tailor according to your requirements as well as news alerts created by EG.

You may save the commercial news alert and the weekly legal newsletter.

Evolve & Grow

From Evolve & Grow there is a link to content mainly for students. This includes advice on studying real estate and how to navigate the legal system.

Data section

Under the Data section, you have the opportunity to search for deals by lettings, occupational sales, investment sales and availabilities.

Select specific geographical markets which can then be filtered by date, by lease type, by rental value and by size.

The results display the details of the deal and the property report which gives historic data.

Planning database

The planning database allows you to search by use type and by planning status in specific geographical areas.

Overview

The overview section gives you market analysis for lettings and sales allowing you to identify trends in specific markets and geographical areas.

Jobs

EG Radius contains commercial property jobs and enables you to create alerts for jobs that you specify.

BCIS

BCIS Online This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Search for information on the cost of building and construction projects. Please log out when finished using.

BCIS is a RICS product which contains cost analyses, studies, indices and forecasts.

Surveyors use BCIS to:

Calculate projected costs of building works in the UK.
Obtain insurance calculations for reinstatement costs for a range of domestic houses and flats.
Calculate the life span of building components.
Give indications of the likely construction time for a proposed project.

Its tender price studies allows BCIS to calculate various variables including location, building function, height, site working space and access, and the difference made by new builds or conversions.

Databases icons key:

Help icon Help pages and user guide.