MINISTER of Lands and Resettlement Alpheus !Naruseb introduced the Professional Valuers Professional Bill that will bring into existence a body to regulate the valuation of properties.
The body, according to the bill, will be called the Namibian Council for the Property Valuers Profession.!Naruseb said in Parliament last week that the body would register professionals, candidates and specified categories in the valuation profession.It would also introduce internationally accepted valuation principles and best practices, and regulate the sector through accountability mechanisms.Namibia currently does not have a law to regulate valuations, as is done in other Commonwealth countries and the southern African region.!Naruseb said as a result, property valuation functions are being performed by anyone who believes they are competent to provide such services.He said it has also resulted in property values becoming unrealistically inflated to such an extent that land prices have reached unprecedented levels that are beyond the affordability of the majority of the population. The Bank of Namibia (BoN) has raised its concern over the lack of regulation, which it said has resulted in banking institutions conducting valuation in a discretionary manner.Since there is a legislative vacuum to regulate the sector, there are valuators registered either under the Estate Agency Act, or by sworn appraisers registered in terms of the Magistrates Act, thus eroding professional accountability. Under the current rules, valuators are required to be ‘fit and proper’ for appointment as a sworn appraiser under the Magistrates Act and the Local Authority Act without further elaboration of what this entails.Sworn appraisers’ registration is granted to carry out valuation during alienation of a property, distribution or sequestration of the estates of deceased. This registration is sometimes used for valuation of property for other purposes including local authority rating without due regard to universally acceptable principles of valuations, said !Naruseb.The minister said the drafting process involved comparisons with the situation in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as Australia, Canada, Fiji, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the US. He said the bill has received the full backing and support of practising professional valuers, as well as the BoN.
