Professional Role in Ensuring Standard and Valuable Properties for Sri Lanka to be a Rich and Prosperous Nation

Abstract

Standards properties as well as valuable properties are key concerns in the real estate development and management in providing global property needs and wants. This is confirmed by the UNs Sustainable Development Goals which emphasizes the sustainable cities where standard and valuable real estates are fundamentals (www.un.org). In fact, property standards and property values are interdependent variables. It is expected to embrace international property standards as real estate markets are evolving towards international markets. In line with this, there has been an increasing shift towards International Valuation Standards (IVS), and there is a practical requirement to be aware of such IVS (Australian Property Institute, 2008) to assist global real estate industry through standardized professional services. Further, most of local authorities in developed cities have set property standards in ensuring safe and healthy housing and other real estate in their cities concerning both private and public properties. Those local authorities have well communicated such standards with relevant parties to ensure the provision of their services as well as mitigations of issues in this regards (http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk; http://guelph.ca/; http://www.mtas.utk.edu).

There are over 1250 Sri Lanka Standards relating to products, commodities, materials, processes & practices in Sri Lanka (http://www.slsi.lk). However, it is not seen any such standard on building/structure/real estate/premises as a product except some materials and some components such as machines, equipment etc. Furthermore, planning laws enforced by the Urban Development Authority has been used to a greater extent in urban areas as a monitoring mechanism of some aspects of property development and management (www.uda.gov.lk). However, these regulations and procedures are mostly related with private properties. It is also not perfectly implemented practically resulting several illegally developed or modified buildings and structures in urban areas. In case of public properties such as parks, walking tracks, pavements, public building etc are developed mostly in haphazard way without monitoring by a central system or mechanism (Ariyawansa, 2009). However, valuers and accountants use some standard only to regularize the method of valuation but not the quality of properties.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has taken a measure launching a set of best practice standards applicable in property transactions among real estate agents and brokers worldwide with the view to minimize gaps between national practices, negative image of property agent and brokers etc (http://www.piemag.com). However, impact of the RICS on the country’s property standard is not significant as the country associates with the RICS in a minimal way.