The Guardian harks back to...

... the halcyon days two years ago when the job of a valuation surveyor was little more than establishing the "comparables". A tough task indeed: dropping in for a chat at a local estate agency, and finding out what similar properties have gone for.

Actually, I have no memory of that. I do remember this, though.

The piece turns the spotlight on current valuation practices... confused, bewildered and frightened surveyors unsure where to turn for a price guide when market activity is so low and after so many have disgraced themselves so badly by turning into yes-men for apartment block developers. It's time - argues Patrick Collinson - for the RICS to take a good hard look at its members.

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