Black Country NHS launches full asset valuation of 22 properties

Bruton Knowles has won a bid through the Crown Commercial Framework to work alongside Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to deliver full asset valuations on 22 properties over a six-month period.

Public sector experts from the firm’s National Valuation Team have recently begun assessments of many of the properties, which are mix of operational hospitals, offices, clinics, and support buildings.

Most are in direct use by the trust, but some form part of a smaller portfolio of leased estate.

All state-funded bodies are required to complete financial modelling for their built environment assets at set intervals to ensure property ownership requirements are fulfilled from an insurance and facilities management perspective.

In some cases, especially with aging properties, such assessments can also help with decision-making processes and option appraisals, determining whether sale or refurbishment is the most cost-effective and practically-viable solution.

James Bailey, managing partner at Bruton Knowles, said: “Ensuring fair market values are reported is key to robust public sector financial management.

“Our role is to support the trust by providing the most-up-to-date asset valuation information to help it best understand risks against return across its property portfolio.”

Our role is to support the trust by providing the most-up-to-date asset valuation information to help it best understand risks against return across its property portfolio

A key challenge for surveyors at present is to provide a precise assessment of market value when rising inflation and energy prices, fluctuating base and borrowing rates, as well as forecasts of a recession, continue to cause economic uncertainty.

Bailey explained: “Weighing up market fundamentals – like location, proximity to amenities, structural liabilities, and sustainability measures – when there are also market volatilities and media perceptions at play  – can be a tricky exercise.

“All our valuers are skilled and bring a wealth of experience to their work and this means they are able to make a distinction between the price and value of an asset in order to provide the most-accurate assessment across a property portfolio.

“We’re really pleased to have been selected to deliver this work for the trust and look forward to offering our expertise to equip managers with the right assessments to support the estates management strategy going forwards.