THE managing partner at a land agency which has offices across the region is leading a drive to accurately value the billions of pounds worth of waterrelated assets held by UK companies.

Hugh Fell, of George F White, has written the paper which is the first time the valuation of water, as a separate asset, has been addressed. He has also set up Water-Value, a subsidiary to the firm which is thought to be the first in the country to advise solely on water as a resource.

Mr Fell last night delivered the paper to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in London.

The study is expected to spark international debate on the economic value of water and will lead to the importance of water throughout the world being better managed. If adopted, the proposed changes will have substantial consequences for a range of companies, from utilities to pension funds.

Mr Fell said: “Water is the most important, yet undervalued finite resource on the planet. It is used for agriculture, drinking, health and industry, and without it there would be no life on earth.

“Yet, despite this, water is undervalued and used unsustainably. The RICS has rightly recognised the large gap in their valuation armoury and commissioned this important paper.

“Once a monetary value is placed on the resource, and people begin to understand its true worth, it is likely that the commercial and financial sectors will sit up and take far more notice of this valuable resource.”

Robert Paul of property consultants Strutt and Parker, who also contributed to the report, said at present it was difficult to say whether such assets were in general undervalued or overvalued.

The RICS says the need to consider water as a separately identifiable asset has become more important because of population growth, climate change and security of supply.