Sava Trainer and Assessor Forum 2023.
Yesterday marked Sava’s annual trainer and assessor forum. A chance to thank those involved in supporting our residential surveying learners whilst also sharing important industry insights, the day proved to be thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Following a breakfast networking session, and an introduction from Sava, Professor John Edwards – whose list of accolades in the housing industry exceeds most – was tasked with starting the day’s proceedings.
Professor Edwards gave an informative overview of the stages used when assessing how to best retrofit a home, talking us through the logic and importance of each step. As well as stressing the shortcomings of the EPC to recommend the most apt and efficient improvements for a home, a common theme of the day.
Following from this was Mike Lawson and Graeme Wilson who collectively have 70 years’ worth of professional surveying experience and now both work for Property Risk Inspection LTD as the chief executive and strategy director.
Mike began the speech by announcing the worrying news that climate change is classed as a first order threat, meaning the risk it poses to humanity is on par with nuclear war, imploring the audience to treat climate change like a war effort.
Mike and Graeme’s speech centred on the complexity of climate risk assessment for housing, with many of the used climate scenario models being poor. They warned of those seeking to profit through fear via worst case scenarios which are unlikely to happen. The way they see it we are not yet knowledgeable enough to know what will happen and how this will affect our homes, however they stressed the importance of maintaining stable insurance policies to allow consumers to buy with confidence.
Continuing the discussion of finance in housing, Chris Hare and Beau Archer from Nationwide, reflected on the company’s decision to consider EPCs as a property asset when valuing homes.
The pair predicted that moving forward the energy efficiency and EPCs of properties will become of growing importance to investors and home buyers. They also highlighted products they offer to support domestic retrofit such as the Green Further Advantage Mortgage and how looking forward they are adapting to further sustainable consumer demands.
After lunch the floor was open to discussion and the conversation stemmed around EPCs and how surveyors should best navigate the changing energy efficiency agenda despite the issues with EPCs.
To finish off the day Tim Kenny and Kate Charrington spoke about the energy efficiency and sustainability module that they present to Sava learners. They covered some of the important messages picked up in the module, which provided some useful information for all.
A big thank you goes out to everyone involved in the day from those at Sava who helped organise the event, to the speakers and those in attendance for taking time out of their busy schedules. It was great to see so many familiar faces, discuss the important issues facing the residential surveying industry and how we can collaborate to overcome them.