Firm hired to improve valuations

The UK's Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has been hired to help improve property valuations in Dubai. The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) announced the agreement for training people who conduct property valuations after Marwan bin Ghalita, the Rera chief executive, and Alan England, the regional director of Rics, signed a memorandum of understanding. As part of the arrangement, the British group will be involved in joint workshops and seminars, and helping establish better technical and ethical criteria for surveyors.

"This MoU is one of several that Rera is currently working on to increase regulations in the market, thus making Dubai's real estate more attractive and establishing Rera's role as a reference for real estate in the Middle East," said Mahmoud Alburai, Rera's director of real estate sector development. The Dubai agency said it was keen to develop strategic relationships with private-sector organisations such as the Rics, with the aim of meeting the needs and challenges of the market.