The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has strengthened its regulatory operations after an estate agent was expelled for fraud offences.

Emma Walker and her agency EW Estates, based in Ashington in the North East of England, were punished after being found guilty of 11 offences of fraud and incompetency.

Walker and the firm, which carried out surveys, were suspended for 15 months by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) disciplinary panel, before eventually being struck off.

In February last year, a disciplinary panel of the regulatory tribunal considered charges against RICS member Emma Walker and EW Estates.

Based on evidence which RICS had established during an extensive investigation, the panel found the charges of professional misconduct proven and imposed the strongest available regulatory action – expulsion from RICS membership and the removal of the firm from the Register of Regulated Firms. The Panel imposed the expulsion of the estate agency and its director with immediate effect.

RICS said at the time that this case demonstrated its commitment to taking robust regulatory action to uphold standards, to protect consumers and to maintain public confidence in the profession.

The findings of the panel can be found here.

This case highlighted that RICS is not immune from those who act fraudulently. It brought into focus the numerous checks and balances which were in place, but did not identify the false assertions made on this occasion.

Following this decision, the Standards and Regulation Board (SRB) committed to a detailed review of the case and the relevant regulatory functions. The SRB’s review focussed on the RICS’ operational regulatory activities, whether they are effective and fit for purpose, and any further improvements needed to strengthen trust in the profession. This was a necessary step to assure the wider profession and other stakeholders that RICS is undertaking its regulatory functions effectively.

The review acknowledged the actions already taken, and made the following recommendations to enhance the rigour of RICS’ assurance processes:

Enhance the understanding of the role of SRB

+ RICS should undertake a communication and education campaign to inform its members, stakeholders and the public about the role of the SRB and professional regulation within RICS.

+ The case highlighted the negative consequences of misleading information being shared on social media, amplifying the detrimental effect of the former member’s behaviour on consumers.  RICS should review how it uses communications channels to respond to misinformation in the public domain.

+ Funding and resourcing for the implementation of the Entry and Assessment Review recommendations and the investigations functions will need to be considered carefully, alongside its implementation timetable.

+ RICS should review regulatory requirements for Regulated Firms (including the requirement to maintain professional indemnity insurance and appropriate run-off cover) to ensure their effectiveness and clarity.

+ The newly created Pilot Consumer Working Group should consider the wider consumer protection framework and report to SRB on areas to be enhanced, including This should include reviewing RICS’ existing consumer protections.

Data quality

+ RICS should prioritise ongoing data verification and updating exercises to ensure that all member data is correct and verifiable.

+ The Entry and Assessment teams should continue to review and seek to broaden and strengthen quality assurance mechanisms for enrolments and applications, to ensure that applicant information undergoes increasingly robust verification.

+ The Education and Qualifications Standards and Regulation Assurance and Operations teams should ensure they have seamless access to enrolment, assessment and election data in order to check and verify information independently.

+ RICS should ensure that its public-facing member register and its data undergo robust verification, with IT systems in place to support it.

Guidance for counsellors and assessors

+ The review of the current requirements, processes and guidance for counsellors and assessors should continue at pace.

Since SRB became responsible for entry and assessment processes in 2021, additional controls have been implemented and undergone rigorous review by an external specialist audit company. Further changes to these processes will go in tandem with proposed changes to post-qualification Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Although the Institution has received harsh criticism regarding this case, the review highlights that professional regulation within RICS has functioned independently, appropriately and with integrity. Importantly, when credible and actionable evidence was available an active investigation was pursued quickly, effectively and with the outcome transparently published.