The pandemic has accelerated many changes to the way we do business – not least our reliance on technology to get the job done.

But over and above a rethink of the day-to-day, we have seen the new business as usual pose existential questions of current processes.

Not least among these is the impact of working from home and the importance of geography to our working lives.

I know from experience that this question, among many others, has been put to surveyors for years.

The advent of more robust Automated Valuation Models and the fast-tracked triaging of cases to include remote/digital/desk top-assisted valuations have meant lenders’ need for physical inspections has been waning for some time.

In my previous roles, it has always been evident that technology can not only supercharge offline tasks but can in many cases, rewire and reorder entire ways of doing things and make many processes redundant.

But what is the future of surveying if it is not delivering thousands of lenders’ valuations?

Human judgement

Clearly, if the lessons of technology are to be learnt elsewhere in business, it is the application and of technology, data and human judgement that offer a guide to the likely direction.

In the rush to automate tasks, it’s easy to forget that risks continue to emerge when we least expect them and as we innovate.

Property condition is an essential component of loans such as equity release – where the condition at the point the loan is made, and the end of the agreement impacts value.

Or in buy-to-let cases, when only a physical inspection and condition of shared areas will reveal whether the property is genuinely used for letting and not an HMO. ‘Boots on the ground’ matter when lending is complex; construction types, cladding, even short-term leases – I could go on.

Protecting consumers

Much of the lending in the UK does not necessitate this kind of scrutiny, especially where LTVs pose no real threat to the lender’s exposure. But for homebuyers, it is different.

There is no consumer protection to hand the keys back if you purchase something you later discover is not fit for purpose.

Buying property is a rare enough experience for most these days, and buyers should always be offered an assessment of their property at the very least as part of the industry’s duty of care.

Changes in property risk management mean that as we continue to innovate, the risks we encounter in terms of issues like climate change will require a skilful blend of human and technological expertise.

Flood, subsidence, energy use, and sustainable modern methods of construction will all draw on many sources of expertise to derive an understanding of real value. We may ultimately derive an algorithm for these things, but the data needs to be collated, or at best corroborated and interpreted.

If you had asked me a year ago about my return to the surveying industry, I might have observed many of the challenges facing us now are the same as they were when I left three years ago.

And while much of that is true, the breadth of opportunities and challenges and the speed at which we must recalibrate and deliver our responses has exponentially increased. Hold on to your hats.

Steve Goodall is managing director of e.surv