Our article for CAPP in the Chester Standard:

Ever considered being a land agent?

This month, Chester Association of Property Professionals (CAPP) member and former Chair, Rachel Kirk of Kirk’s Land Agents, discusses the rural chartered surveying profession.

Do you have youngsters that enjoy being outside and engaging with the countryside?  Are they considering what they could do as a career?  Have they considered becoming a Land Agent?

There is so much change in the rural world at the moment on the back of Brexit and changes in policy, as well as the push for net zero carbon.  It is an exciting time to be involved.

You will have heard of a Chartered Surveyor but did you know that there are multiple pathways to follow?  A Chartered Surveyor is qualified (or training to be qualified) with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) but there is no one size fits all.  

So, what is a Rural Chartered Surveyor?  Also known as a Land Agent, it is difficult to put a description of the job into just a few sentences, but it is certainly varied!    It offers a great combination of some time at the desk, but also a good amount of time outside in the fresh air (rain or shine!).  You could be a Resident Land Agent employed on a large Country Estate maintaining and letting the properties, or you could be working for a professional practice specialising in securing rights for utility companies such as gas or water pipelines, or even large scale renewable energy projects such as wind turbines or solar panels.  You could be a landlord and tenant lettings specialist or a valuer of residential and agricultural property.  You could be talking to a farmer about submitting planning for a new shed one minute and walking around a hillside for a valuation the next. 

There is never just one hot topic to discuss.  At the moment there is the impact of Biodiversity Net Gain requirement for planning and offsetting on land to consider, as well as the substantial changes to the agricultural subsidy regimes having come out of the EU. 

A rural chartered surveyor is quite often also a Fellow of the Agricultural Valuers Association, so you’ll see the letters MRICS FAAV after the surveyor’s name.  This offers another string to the bow and provides excellent agricultural valuation knowledge. 

We have a few rural chartered surveyors in the CAPP membership, so if you fancy a chat to find out more of what its all about, have a look at our CAPP website and get in touch.