PROPERTY

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr N Dunse

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The aim of this course is to explain the principles and practices of financial markets and investment decision making. It also offers an understanding of the jargon that is used by financial practitioners and in the financial press. The module starts by looking at financial institutions, such as the London Stock Exchange and explains how price indices and their derivatives are calculated. Concepts such as the time value of money, present value and future value, risk and return, valuation and the opportunity cost of capital are developed. The course explains why there are markets for property, futures and options, unit trusts (mutual funds), commodities, currencies and money and how these financial products are traded in the financial markets.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures per week and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) and in-course assessment: one 40 minute multiple choice test (20%) and one 1000 word essay/report (20%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

To be arranged

Pre-requisites

This course is only available to students on programmes offered by Land Economy.

Overview

This course discusses and explores the following:- the building design process; the construction team; functional requirements of buildings, including infrastructure and explanation of basic building details; the dynamics of materials and structures; the identification of site characteristics and influence of exposure; the causes of building defects and decay; the principles of dilapidation; the principles of land and building surveying; scaled representations and the complexity of building; and basic building services.

Structure

16 one-hour lectures, 4 two-hour workshops, 1 full day practical exercise and 2 half-day field visits.

Assessment

1st Attempt: in-course assessment (100%) – 3 projects.

Resit: in-course assessment (100%) – 3 projects.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Roberts

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

This course provides an introduction to the following concepts in an accessible and straightforward manner: summary descriptive measures; measuring variability; index numbers; inequality indices; probability and probability distributions; confidence intervals; hypothesis testing; the χ² and F distributions; correlation; regression analysis and time series analysis.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week plus 1 two-hour project class.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and in-course assessment (20%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) plus original course work mark (20%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr N Dunse

Pre-requisites

LE 1010

Overview

This course examines the valuation of commercial investment properties. Focusing on the Investment Method of valuation, it uses practical examples to illustrate the application of both traditional and modern methods of investment valuation. Market data and different economic conditions are drawn upon to explain the investment valuation of a range of legal interests in property, including freeholds and leaseholds and the surrender and renewal of property interests as business circumstances change.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and in-course assessment (20%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and original in-course assessment mark (20%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Roberts

Pre-requisites

EC 1003 and EC 1503. Available only to students in Programme Year 2.

Overview

This course examines the economic characteristics of property. Introduction to property market analysis: use, investment and development. Analysis of property sectors (housing, office, retail, industrial). Macroeconomics of property markets, the interaction between property markets and the economy. Economic basis of planning, planning regulation in a market economy. Economic analysis of planning policy and delivery, techniques of economic and environmental evaluation in planning.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and one tutorial per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and in-course assessment (20%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and original in-course assessment mark (20%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor N Hutchison

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 2 or above.

Overview

The course examines issues concerning the valuation of land and property interests. Topics include an examination of the techniques for and practical examples of valuations for trading properties and development properties; RICS’ Appraisal and Valuation Manual and valuations for special purposes which will include company accounts, insurance and taxation, incorporating national taxation – taxation of income and expenditure, inheritance tax, tax on capital gains and stamp duty; and local taxation – an introduction to the Scottish rating system, council tax and non-domestic rates.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures per week, 1 one-hour tutorial per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and in-course assessment (20%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and original in-course assessment mark (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr N Dunse

Pre-requisites

LE 2023 and LE 2525.

Overview

This course will examine current issues in investment appraisal. It will cover mass appraisal techniques and the application of statistical techniques for property appraisal including application of computer packages such as geographical information systems (GIS) and artificial intelligence (AI). Analysis of balance sheets will be covered in business appraisal along with valuation of special business properties. The course will also cover development appraisal.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: 1 two-hour examination (60%) and original in-course assessment mark (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr N Dunse

Pre-requisites

Available to students in Programme Year 3 or above.

Overview

This course examines the role of property as an investment asset. It compares property against the different asset classes of shares and bonds and further differentiates property investment into direct and indirect investment alternatives. Also covered is index construction, depreciation, benchmarking and modern portfolio theory. Efficiency and pricing in the property market is then discussed with its impact on investment.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%) and two pieces of in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: 1 two-hour examination (60%) and original in-course assessment mark (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr M White

Pre-requisites

LE 2025 and LE 2526, or EC 2002 or PO 2501.

Notes

Elective for Property single and joint honours and MA Economics single and joint honours.

Overview

The microeconomics of housing markets. Housing market segmentation, disequilibrium in housing, defining neighbourhoods. Analysis of house price models. Housing and the macroeconomy, the behaviour of the finance industry and its impact on housing markets. The interaction between housing and labour markets. Housing taxation and right to buy. Institutional and policy influences in housing markets. The impact of the planning system, housing supply.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) and two pieces of in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) and two pieces of in-course assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr M White

Pre-requisites

Available to students in Programme Year 3 or above.

Overview

This course analyses the structure of international property markets, focusing on Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. It examines the impact of global and local economic forces and national institutional characteristics on the behaviour and development of property markets in various countries. It discusses how these factors affect the attractiveness of different property markets for international investors. It also examines how real estate service providers have adapted to a changing international business environment.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: 1 two-hour examination (60%) and original in-course assessment mark (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr M White

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 who have passed LE 2025 and LE 2526, OR EC 2002 OR PO 2501.

Notes

Elective for MA Property single and joint honours, and MA Economics single and joint honours.

Overview

This course offers students the opportunity to study the microeconomics of housing markets. Issues include: housing market segmentation, disequilibrium in housing, defining neighbourhoods and analysis of house price models. Also considered is housing and the macroeconomy; the behaviour of the finance industry and its impact on housing markets; the interaction between housing and labour markets; housing taxation and right to buy; institutional and policy influences in housing markets; the impact of the planning system and housing supply.

Structure

1 two-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) and two pieces of in-course assessment (20% each).

Resit (for Honours students only): Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr N Dunse

Pre-requisites

Available to students in Programme Year 4 only.

Overview

This course examines theories and issues relevent to investment in property in the contexts of both mixed-asset and property portfolios. Themes include risk and return; the application of Modern Portfolio Theory (including the Capital Asset Pricing Model, capital market line) and security market line; market efficiency and the implications for investors; risk and duration; property market modelling and forecasting. Drawing these themes together, benchmarking and property portfolio strategy and management are examined in the context of practical examples.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures per week and a total of 5 one-hours tutorials/seminars.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit (for Honours students only): Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr D Roberts

Pre-requisites

Available to Senior Honours students who have passed LE 3520.

Overview

Personal research supported by formal introduction to research methods (in associated course) and by regular supervision.

Structure

Required field work: discussion with supervisor.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: submission of dissertation (including original work) on topic approved by the Dissertation Coordinator (100%).

Resit (for Honours students only): Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr M White

Pre-requisites

Only available to students in Programme Year 4.

Notes

Students who have completed LE 3024, International Property Market Analysis, are not eligible to take this course.

Overview

This course discusses and explores the following topics:

• Structure of international property markets, focusing on Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.


• International political economy as a context for interpreting land and property markets.


• National property markets at different stages of development.


• Differences in national legal and planning systems, and their impact on property markets


• Case studies in international property.

Structure

1 two-hour lecture per week and 1 two-hour seminar per fortnight (times to be arranged).

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit (for Honours students only): Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr M White

Pre-requisites

LE 3524 or equivalent.

Notes

Available only to students in Programme Year 4.

Overview

This course will cover rent modelling and forecasting, inflation hedging capabilities of direct and indirect property, price discovery between securitised and unsecuritised property, property finance of residential and income generating property, financing of property development, and amortization.

Structure

1 two-hour lecture and per week and 1 two-hour workshop per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) and in-course assessment comprising two pieces of coursework (20% each).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).