One Stop Property

Citation

Guscott, F. (1998), "One Stop Property", Property Management, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 105-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.1998.16.2.105.3

One Stop Property is part of the One Stop Series which is published by the ICSA as a guide to key topics in business administration. The series is intended to provide a pragmatic approach on how to run your business profitably, but within a legal and efficient framework.

While the whole series is undoubtedly aimed at company secretaries and administrators, the intended audience for One Stop Property is to quote the publishers “anyone who has responsibility for managing and administering their property matters and obligations, but who may not be fully trained in property administration”. Within its 260 pages the book covers all the key areas of property, including acquisition, building works, health and safety, leasehold matters and occupiers′ liabilities. There are 65 separate headings all self‐contained and arranged in alphabetical order. The book is very accessible due to the simple layouts of each section, with good use of boxes to highlight important points, some case studies and a clear and easy‐to‐read style.

The author in his introduction recognises the importance of property at a strategic level within an organisation and points out that, in his experience, property and the associated obligations are often overlooked. Bearing in mind the publisher′s main audience, the book tends to concentrate on the obligations and liabilities facing an organisation because of its property holdings. Anyone expecting an in‐depth guidance on how property strategy relates to all organisations’ goals and objectives will in the main be disappointed. However, the author recognises that it is not possible within a book of this type to cover comprehensively all aspects of such a wide topic, and sees his objectives as “allowing the reader to pose the correct questions and show some comprehension of the scope of the problems″!

The book does succeed to a large extent in meeting this objective and as a text book for students entering business administration I believe this should be recommended reading. The inherent problem with this type of book is that it can over simplify some of the issues, and although the author continually points this out, the old adage of “a little learning is a dangerous thing” is still relevant.

In this respect I was disappointed not to see references to other publications and other institutions in the reference section at the end. This led to the impression that this book would suffice for most readers, an impression I am sure the author was not trying to convey. In each of the areas covered in the book there are a number of standard reference books and material which could have been introduced to the reader and this would have increased the relevance and depth of this publication. The additional problem that this created was that on certain occasions the author’s personal views and opinions were given as fact. An example of this is the recommendation to always insist on an expert as against an arbitrator on rent reviews. In a “tenant′s” market where demand is low this can be good advice; however, in a “landlord′s” or rising market it might be better to have an arbitrator. The point is that the reader should be aware of the difference between the two, but also know where to get further advice.

Another example of where the book could have added value was on the “Building Works” section, which covered the principles of building contracts admirably, but there was no reference to JCT forms of contract. There should also have been reference to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) or the Chartered Institute of Builders (CIOB), all of whom produce further guidance and reference material on best practice. I gained the impression that it was thought desirable for the use of other professionals to be minimised in order to save fees, with them being only involved in the very technical or complex areas.

The book could have made an excellent contribution to the management of property by setting aside the chapter on when to use consultants and how to maximise the benefits that they can bring. In addition, there was little reference to facilities management and how this discipline can improve the management of your property and reduce ongoing liabilities.

The above comments do not detract from the contribution that this book makes in its own field, but with a slightly wider terms of reference, a valuable textbook could have been developed into the standard textbook for property within business administration.