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Robsons is a firm of Chartered Surveyors and Valuers, specialising in residential valuations throughout London and the South East of England. Since formation in June 1982 the firm’s core business was residential valuations, RICS HOMEBUYER Survey and Valuations (or equivalent) and residential building surveys. However, over the last 10 years, much of the firm’s work is now for Housing Associations. |
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The firm’s founder, Ray Robson BSc FRICS MAE MIoD, is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, having qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and being elected as an Associate in December 1975 and as a Fellow in December 1988. He is a member of both the General Practice and Building Surveying Divisions. |
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Ray Robson was also included as a "Checked Expert" in the Law Society Directory of Experts, published November 1995 and he is also a Member of the Academy of Experts, having been elected in December 1995, due to his experience as an expert in the matters of valuer and surveyor negligence. |
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Robsons is also Construction Line registered (Registration no. 52794). |
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The firm has two offices, in Bromley and Acton. We act for a number of residential mortgage lenders, other corporate clients and institutions and private clients and a large number of Housing Associations. |
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We have acted as experts for the following mortgagees where negligence actions were taken by the mortgagees against their valuers:
(i) Alliance & Leicester Building Society
(ii) Barclays Bank PLC
(iii) BNP Mortgages Limited
(iv) Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society
(v) First National Bank PLC
(vi) Halifax Mortgage Services Limited
(vii) Mortgages PLC
(viii) National Westminster Bank PLC
(ix) Nationwide Building Society
(x) Nationwide Home Loans Limited
(xi) Paragon Mortgages Limited
(xii) Portman Building Society
(xiii) The Mortgage Business PLC
- UCB Home Loans Corporation Limited
- Woolwich PLC
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The firm has acted as Defence Expert for the Solicitors Indemnity Fund, Professional Indemnity Insurers a number of the major corporate valuer practices, plus numerous other independent valuer practices. |
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Ray Robson has spoken twice at the Council of Mortgage Lenders - Mortgage Fraud Prevention Seminars on the subject of The Expert Witness Report (1993) and Valuation Verification, Audit and Fraud (2000). The Council of Mortgage Lenders is the representative body of the majority of residential mortgage lenders in the country and this seminar being attended by representatives of approximately 140 lenders. |
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Further, as a result of his reputation Ray Robson was instructed by the Serious Fraud Office as an Independent Expert for the Crown in R v R J Wharton, a case regarding mortgage fraud of £43m, which was at that time one of the largest residential mortgage frauds in this country and where the Defendant was jailed for 5 years. |
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The reason for attracting this expert work and being invited to speak at the CML seminars was in recognition of Ray Robson’s understanding of the residential housing market and advising the lenders of the problems that were building up with overvaluation of property by RICS valuers and putting them on notice of the problems they faced, before the issues of recession and negative equity which seriously affected the property market in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Ray Robson also predicted and has been advising clients of the problems in the housing market since early 2005 from the overvaluation of new build property and in turn bad lending which contributed to the credit crunch which has occurred following the collapse of Northern Rock in September 2007. |
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Housing Associations we have acted for include:-
- London & Quadrant Housing Trust
- Tower Homes Limited
- Southern Housing Group Limited (London, Horsham and Ashford)
- Places for People
- Gallions Housing Association
- AmicusHorizon Housing Group (Croydon and Sittingbourne)
- Guinness Trust
- Network Housing Association
- Notting Hill Housing Association
- Hyde Housing Association
- Hexagon Housing Association Limited
- Affinity Sutton Housing Association
- ASRA Greater London Association Limited
- Moat Housing Group Limited (London and Dartford)
- Tower Hamlets Community Housing
- Servite
- Bourne Housing Association Limited
- West Kent Housing Association
- Peabody
- St Mungos Community HA
- Beaver Housing Society
- Poplar HARCA Housing Association
- South London Family Housing Association
- English Churches Housing Association
- Gravesend Churches Housing Association Limited
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The nature of work carried out for these Housing Associations include market valuations of street properties and proposed new development and regeneration schemes for affordable housing and mixed tenure schemes including open market sales and commercial. |
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This proportion of our work and the number of Housing Associations we act for is growing monthly. This growth is a result of recommendation where staff move from one Housing Association to another or recommendation between staff of one Housing Association to another, due to our extensive knowledge of the sector and helpful approach. |
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We are currently valuing over £1 billion of property per annum for Housing Associations and Local Authorities. |
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Another service the firm offers is the acquisition of P&R street property in London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. All programs have been acquired on target and within budget as required. |
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