Learning Curve - Jeff Platt

I would like to see the Institute continue to grow at its current rate and play a major role in continuing to improve professionalism within the property management profession. Our sponsoring organisations: Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA), Association of Retirement Housing Managers (ARHM) and the Property Managers Association Scotland (PMAS) have all made major strides in this direction in recent years and I look forward to continuing these developments in a partnership approach.

I also believe that we are currently under-represented in a number of key areas; particularly, the public sector and among allied professionals for whom residential property management is not their main business. Not only do we have huge opportunities to develop our membership within these sectors but I also believe there are a large number of practitioners within these sectors who are working in isolation and could benefit from our support network.

Key to our growing success is greater public awareness of the Institute and the benefits offered by qualified property managers. Our members can play a key part in developing this awareness. There is still a large degree of ignorance amongst the general public about the complexities of property management and the underlying rights and obligations imposed by Landlord and Tenant and allied legislation. With the increase in flat developments and publicity campaigns by bodies such as LEASE and the Residential Property Tribunal Service (LVTs), public awareness is likely to continue to grow and I think we can and should play our part in this.

The IRPM was launched to deliver a professional qualification in property management: how successful would you say the mission has been so far?

The IRPM was launched to deliver a recognised, transportable qualification in leasehold property management which provides recognition for members’ skills and experience and provides a competency benchmark to their clients and customers.

We currently have over 550 qualified members and a further 135 Affiliates who are intent on achieving our qualifications and progressing their careers. I, therefore, think we are already meeting our initial aims and are continuing to increase public awareness of the Institute. It is getting more and more common for Landlords and Residents’ Management Companies to specify IRPM qualified staff amongst their selection criteria for managing agents; a real sign that our members are having an impact within the market.

In an unregulated industry with no compulsory qualifications for entry, what advantage is there for property managers in attaining the IRPM qualification?

In an unregulated industry with limited barriers to entry the key to success is gaining competitive advantage. There is significant scope for both property management companies and individuals to gain this competitive advantage for new business and employment opportunities respectively. Obviously it takes time for a new Institute to achieve a position where their qualifications are seen as the benchmark within the profession. Not only do I think we have already reached this position and our members can therefore benefit immensely, but we are already finding that a significant number of employers are assisting their employees to gain IRPM qualifications and are promoting this to potential clients to gain and retain competitive advantage for themselves.

A number of organisations are also steering many of their ‘back room’ staff through the IRPM qualifications to give them a fuller, more rounded knowledge of the business.

Do you not think that the training and professional development of property managers should be the responsibility of their individual employers?

I think that training and development of more qualified and capable personnel within any industry is a shared responsibility between the individuals, their employers and the industry itself. Property management is no different and by offering portable personal qualifications we are providing the foundations to assist all parties to demonstrably increase the skill base within the profession.

The wiser employers are actually supporting their staff, both financially and practically, to gain IRPM qualifications. They have not, therefore, abrogated their responsibilities nor have we taken them over; it is a partnership approach.

Raising professional standards of property managers: IRPM is tackling this via an educational approach; in what other ways do you think higher standards of professional discipline can be achieved in PM?

Different organisations are already tackling this issue in various ways. The Government has taken the approach of legislating for outcomes instead of regulating the practitioners. The IRPM is providing an opportunity for individuals to achieve personal qualifications which demonstrate knowledge and competency. The Trade Bodies are taking a regulatory approach; as far as the lack of legislation will allow, and have developed guidance and Codes of Practice with legal standing. I would like to take this opportunity of congratulating the ARHM on producing their updated Code of Practice for Retirement Housing. Member organisations of the ARHM manage around 95% of the private retirement housing sector and members are expected to fully comply with their Code of Practice so this has real teeth.

What are you doing to raise levels of membership to IRPM?

Firstly, we continue to promote the Institute at all opportunities; conferences, training sessions, our sponsors events etc. and secondly, we have summited the crest whereby we are providing real benefits of membership to our members. It is most encouraging when we receive phone enquiries (as we have) along the lines of “I can no longer win the business I used to because I am not IRPM qualified, can you please send me details of membership.”

The Institute belongs to our members and they (and their employers) are the ones in a unique position to publicise our role and the benefits of membership to other professionals, clients and customers alike. It strikes me this is a win win situation whereby we gain increased public awareness and they gain competitive advantage.

We are not just relying on our members, however, and have identified and empowered our Marketing Group as playing the key role amongst our Board activities for the foreseeable future.

How many have now passed the Part I and Part II examinations? How do you anticipate membership growing over the next three years?

Membership continues to grow rapidly. We are signing up new members on almost a daily basis and the total membership is rapidly approaching 700. So far 179 Affiliates have passed the Part I exam and moved up to Associate Membership and 26 have passed the Part II exam which entitles them to progress to full Membership subject to the requisite practical experience. We already have a further 50 Affiliates booked into the next Part I exam and the indications are that demand will be high for the next Part II exam in May.

There is no sign of membership applications slowing down; quite the opposite in fact, and we still lack penetration in some key sectors of the market. Members can see positive benefits of their membership within the market place and this is a key driver for other potential members to be attracted to joining. I don’t wish to get into the numbers game and predict membership in the future because I think if we can successfully penetrate other areas and continue our current growth then any estimate now may prove to widely under-optimistic.

IRPM was launched by and is supported financially by ARMA. Does it tend to be ARMA members who qualify to IRPM membership? Can anyone sign up?

It is true that the IRPM was launched by ARMA, who were very quickly joined by ARHM and PMAS as sponsors of the IRPM. We continue to enjoy huge support from these sponsoring organisations; all of whom are represented on our Board. Financially, however, the IRPM is self-supporting and we have repaid all our sponsors start up loans in full; not a bad achievement within our first three years.

Membership is open to all those engaged in property management and we have a significant number of members who do not work for ARMA members, or indeed for members of ARHM or PMAS. As an example, I personally am not directly connected to any of these trade bodies.

We have developed close working relationships with the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and I personally believe we can offer significant benefits and support to individuals working within public sector leasehold management. I regularly encounter Chartered Surveyors, Estate Agents, Letting Agents etc who are engaged, at some level, in block management. It is not uncommon for these professionals to not fully appreciate what they don’t know and by embracing all these allied professionals we have a huge opportunity to both expand our membership and improve the knowledge base, and hence the service levels, within the block management profession.

What is the view of the ‘property manager in the street’ towards training and CPD?

There are huge complexities to managing blocks of flats and the potential pitfalls do not bear thinking about. There is a raft of legislation to be aware of; not just Landlord and Tenant legislation but a whole host of ancillary legislation, Health and Safety is a specialism in its own right. Modern developments are increasingly large scale mixed use developments which multiply the complexities and increase the need for highly skilled professionals. The days of the enthusiastic amateur or allied professional have probably drawn to a close with these developments and the requirement to be constantly ‘up to speed’ is well appreciated amongst these professionals.

What do you think can/should be done to promote PM as an attractive career option to graduates?

In the past most people have ‘drifted’ into property management from a variety of routes and allied professions. To be an attractive career option for new graduates the profession needs to offer recognised qualifications and a clear career progression route. Together with a large number of employers, we have now got these foundations in place.

In the past, residential property management has been polarised between the public sector and private sectors. During the 25 years I have worked in this field a number of Universities have developed courses geared towards public sector housing management. With the emphasis very much on mixed use developments, public / private partnerships, the inclusion of affordable homes in private developments, shared-ownership etc., I personally feel that the distinction between public and private sectors is becoming less relevant and there is an increasing need for training to be more generic; Landlord and Tenant legislation is mostly, after all, common to both sectors. Through our examinations we already have a close working relationship with the CIH and Southampton Solent University and I think it is only a matter of time before some post graduate University courses are geared more towards the management of these developments. I look forward to working closely with these institutions in years to come to agree and develop courses which can build on our current examination structure.

Do you envisage a time when regulation will make a formal qualification for property managers compulsory?

I hope so. I find it absurd that a profession which manages assets worth hundreds of millions of pounds and retains huge sums of clients monies is not regulated and has no barriers to entry. The Government has floated the idea of regulation but shied away from it because of cost and complexity.

I do not much subscribe to the theory of a profession endowed with crooks and charlatans (any more) – there are easier and bigger pickings available for them elsewhere, but with the increase of large scale mixed use developments and the legal complexities of property management I do think that the days of the well meaning amateurs are probably over.

If we can continue to increase public awareness of appropriate qualifications and professional awareness of the complexities and potential legal pitfalls we can go a long way towards ensuring the market place demands some form of qualified property manager.

Jeff Platt has worked in property management throughout his 25 year career, covering the gamut of public and private sectors and residential and commercial properties. He first started managing leasehold properties in significant numbers around 12 years ago and was surprised by the number of property managers who lacked adequate knowledge of key legislation, codes of practice etc. Joining the IRPM at its outset, he was elected to the Board at the first a.g.m.

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