Postgraduate Real Estate 2024-2025

This module aims to examine the legal and professional environment of property.  The module introduces key concepts from property law to explain the framework within which property can be held, used and traded. Planning law and policy is considered as part of the regulatory system through which land use and development are promoted and/or controlled.

The course focuses on Scots law and institutions, but students have the opportunity, where appropriate, to draw upon their own comparative perspectives.

This course covers the legal basis of land tenure; land registration; property ownership; landlord and tenant relationships; obligations and restrictions, and planning.

This course aims to provide an overview of basic economic models and recent developments regarding the working of real estate markets and urban land markets. The course is intended to enable students

i)  To examine real estate as a set of linked markets, functionally divided between use, investment and development

ii) To understand the dynamics of specific types of real estate markets and appreciate real estate market modelling approaches

iii) To understand the location patterns of land use within urban areas and regional development

iv)  To understand the role that regulations and planning play in real estate markets

This course introduces students to the mathematics of valuation and to the five methods of valuation, as they relate to the valuation  of assets in both the urban and rural environment.  Property valuation methods are critiqued and alternatives considered. The course considers the  formal processes and procedures adopted in the UK to the valuation of property.

The course introduces students to concepts of portfolio management and recent developments regarding real estate investment vehicles. The course takes a financial economics viewpoint and places real estate investments within this context. The course covers such important aspects as securitization of initially illiquid real estate assets, the management of building portfolios and the use of index swap contracts for risk management purposes. The course discusses also real option theory and applies it to land development and the pricing of lease contracts.

This course applies the principles of valuation to more complex real-world examples. Topics covered include rent reviews, compulsory purchase, property investment, and national and local taxation. Students are encouraged to critique traditional approaches to valuation and to consider contemporary alternatives. Numeracy and analytical skills are further developed along with expertise in the use of Excel.  In addition, the course also covers professional surveying practice, including ethics, and stimulates discussion on contemporary issues and debates in the real estate industry.

The student will be required to successfully secure a suitable work placement in a real estate organisation based in the UK or internationally. The student will be required to complete a period of real estate relevant work experience (minimum 150 hours) plus complete a report examining connections between theories, principles and professional practice in real estate. The work placement may be paid or unpaid. Where the student does not hold a UK passport, it will be the student’s responsibility to check whether they are eligible to work in the UK given visa regulations. Similarly, where approval is given to work experience taking place outside the UK, the student is responsible for ensuring they are eligible to undertake the placement in accordance with all relevant visa regulations.

The dissertation is an independent piece of work.  The choice of topic is largely your own but approval must be obtained from the course coordinator and your dissertation supervisor. The dissertation should contain a large degree of original work and allow you to demonstrate in depth the skills and knowledge you have acquired on the MSc. The dissertation should be around 15000 words in length. You will be expected to show competence for independent work and to demonstrate a clear definition of the problem or subject area to be studied and the formulation and expression of a logical, workable solution.