THE UNITE GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024 146 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 5.1. Investment property and investment property under development valuations Key audit matter description The Group’s principal assets are investment properties (2024: £4,025.5m; 2023: £3,694.3m) and investment properties under development (2024: £451.4m; 2023: £174.6m) which are held at fair value. The Group also holds investments in its joint ventures, USAF and LSAV, with their principal assets also being investment properties. The property valuations, which are performed by an external valuer, are carried out at six-monthly intervals for the Group and quarterly for the joint ventures in accordance with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (‘RICS’) Valuation – Professional Standards (the ‘Red Book’). The valuations are determined using actual trading data and a number of subjective assumptions and estimates. We consider the key assumptions to be net operating income (NOI) and property yields. Given the high level of estimation involved, we have determined that there is potential for fraud through possible manipulation of these key assumptions. Valuations are also impacted by refurbishment cost assumptions, including cladding and fire-safety remediation requirements and assumptions relating to climate change legislative requirements. With regards to the investment properties under development, additional estimation is required to forecast discounted cash flows with a deduction for construction costs to complete. Refer to page 101 (Audit & Risk Committee Statement), section 3.1: Wholly owned property assets and section 3.4: Investments in joint ventures. Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty disclosures relating to investment property and development property valuation are set out in Sections 1 and 3.1. How the scope of our audit responded to the key audit matter We carried out the following audit procedures in response to the identified key audit matter: Understanding the properties and relevant controls: • Obtained an understanding of and tested the relevant controls over the investment property and development property valuation processes. • Performed enquiries with key management to enhance our knowledge of the portfolio and to understand their internal valuation process, the development appraisal process and market. Data provided to the valuer: • Tested the accuracy, completeness and consistency of the information provided to the external valuers. • Tested on a sample basis the forecast cost to complete against budget and costs incurred to date. External valuation: • Assessed the objectivity, competence and capability of the external valuers and reviewed their terms of engagement with the Group to determine whether there were any matters that might have affected their objectivity or may have imposed scope limitations on their work. • With the assistance of our internal real estate valuation specialists, benchmarked the assumptions used against market data, including relevant transactions to identify individual properties where the key assumptions were considered outliers to our expected range. • Along with our internal real estate valuation specialists, met with the external valuer and made enquiries relating to the results of their work on the sample of properties, as well as their views of the broader market. • Made enquiries of the valuers as to whether any special assumptions had been made and how they approach the impact of climate change, cladding and fire-safety remediation in the valuations. • Assessed the valuation methodology used and considered compliance with the Red Book guidance. • Tested the integrity of the model used by the external valuer through recalculation. • Reconciled the external valuation reports to underlying financial records to test for completeness and accuracy within the Group’s financial statements. • Compared the property specific assumptions to assess whether there is consistency within the portfolio as well as consistency with related assumptions used in other estimates. Disclosures: • Assessed the appropriateness of the Group’s valuation disclosures, including the related sensitivities included within the financial statements. Key observations We concluded that valuation of investment property and investment property under development is appropriate. INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT continued