Estates Surveyor

Wendy Higgins is the Estates Surveyor working in Portfolio Management section of Estates & Facilities Management, and is responsible for dealing with the legal issues arising from the University's Estate. The team's activities include managing acquisitions and disposals of property, leasing arrangements and contract negotiation, and dispute resolution, (e.g. boundary disputes, party wall issues etc).

One of the key responsibilities of this busy section is the instruction of solicitors on a varying number of issues, to ensure that the University is provided with appropriate professional advice at all times. Naturally, such interaction results in a substantial amount of legal documentation.

Portfolio Management also oversees rent reviews and lease renewals on properties that are either leased in by the University or that the University leases out. Other areas of responsibility include dealing with ground rent queries, managing the University Business Rates responsibilities, working with the Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Children´s Hospital on property related matters and acquiring advice from external companies relating to property valuations and marketing.

Wendy works alongside the University's Project Managers in acquisition of space and lease arrangements on such new projects as the AMRC building, Health Centre and Learning Resources Centre. Wendy also keeps an ongoing dialogue with the Space Management team to ensure that where necessary, formal arrangements are put in place to support changes in the University´s estate.

Custodians of the Deeds
A fact not known to all staff is that Portfolio Management are custodians of University´s property deeds which are are often used to settle disputes, or to assist in strategic planning.

Experience
The considerable experience of this section is demonstrated by Wendy's successful involvement in acquisition of what is now known as the Graduate Research Centre, (all areas of negotiation, contracts and purchase), involvement in the successful acquisition of the North Campus, and the AMRC site acquisition contracts.

When do you contact her?
You would rarely need to contact Wendy unless she is negotiating a lease on behalf of your department, for example. On some occasions contact would be made following a decision made by the Estates Capital Strategy Group.

Email: Wendy Higgins
Telephone 0114 222 9026