Michael Waters

Dr. Michael Waters has been working in real estate academia for over 20 years with several top UK universities including, University of Reading, Cass Business School and Oxford Brookes. He joined Heriot Watt University, Dubai in 2009. Prior to this, he worked in private practice in London building a portfolio of strategic property advice for major UK housebuilders.

Michael is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA),

Michael has authored and delivered over 30 conference presentations and white paper discussions at the national and international level in areas of property valuation, real estate development and professional development. He has a passion for researching the green economy and evaluating the impact of sustainability/ESG in real estate.

His notable public engagements include:

• Expert author contributions for relevant real estate media in Dubai including Gulf News; The National; Arabian Business; Construction Weekly
• Expert CPD speaker for the RICS Middle East region since 2009
• APC assessor for the RICS Middle East region since 2011

Michael completed his PhD research with Heriot Watt University covering an evaluation of property valuation in Dubai. His research focused on (1) valuation heuristics, exploring how valuers' cognitive development affects valuation problem solving (2) behavioural psychology in real estate, investigating the factors that influence real estate decision-making; (3) operation of property markets, especially exploring the market efficiency and data transparency.

His research explored a wide range of sustainability topics including energy efficiency impact on property pricing; EPC ratings impact on residential house prices and the principles of sustainable property investing and valuations.