# Summit APC Mock Interview - Residential

## Script B (second variant, for repeat practice)

> Same 60-minute structure as Script A. Different angle: where Script A was valuation and inspection for secured lending, Script B is residential agency, lettings and management. Read aloud with a counsellor or study partner playing the chairperson and technical assessor. Answer cold, in the time bands, then grade with the panel marking sheet.
>
> Scenarios are generic and illustrative. No real firm, client, or transaction is named. Your live answers must come from your own Summary of Experience and case study.

> **Level-set flag for human review (Stobert):** Summit does not yet hold a December 2025 edition of the Residential pathway guide. The competency set and levels in this pack are taken from the RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Version 1.1, Section 3 Pathway requirements (page 3). Re-verify against any December 2025 Residential edition before treating the pack as final.

---

## Candidate brief (generic, Script B)

You are a Residential candidate practising in the region. Your case study this time is a **residential lettings and management** instruction: a private landlord client with a small portfolio of let houses and one block of flats asked you to take over the letting and ongoing management, including re-letting two units, dealing with arrears, and resolving a deposit dispute. Your declared core competencies are **Inspection (L3)**, **Valuation (L2)**, **Measurement (L2)** and **Leasing and letting (L3)**. Your declared optional competencies include **Property management (L2)** and **Purchase and sale (L2)**. Your day-to-day work covers residential agency, lettings, and block and unit management.

---

## Interview structure (same as Script A)

| Stage | Time | Who leads |
|---|---|---|
| Candidate presentation on the case study | 10 min | Candidate |
| Questions on the presentation | 10 min | Technical assessor and chair |
| Discussion on overall experience, including CPD, Rules of Conduct, professional practice | 30 min | Technical assessor (core/optional) and chair (mandatory) |
| Chairperson's areas of questioning and close | 10 min | Chair |
| **Total** | **60 min** | |

Source: RICS APC Assessor Guide, February 2024, "Interview structure".

---

## Stage 1 - Presentation (10 minutes)

**Chair opening:** "Good morning. I am the chairperson, my colleague is the technical assessor. Please show us a full scan of the room. Thank you. You have ten minutes for your case study. Please keep to time."

**[MODEL PRESENTATION SHAPE]**
- The instruction: who, the purpose (take over lettings and management of a residential portfolio), the brief, and the date.
- The portfolio: the units, their tenure and tenancies, the condition, the rent levels, and the management issues you inherited (arrears, a deposit dispute, two voids to re-let).
- The key issues: how to re-let at the right rent, how to handle the arrears and the deposit dispute fairly, and how to bring the management onto a compliant footing.
- Options considered and rejected, with reasoning.
- Your recommendation, what you put in place, and lessons learned.

**Self-marking note - what the panel listens for:** structure, time discipline, your own role isolated, the management and lettings logic, and a recommendation that shows judgement. Source: RICS APC Assessor Guide, February 2024, "Weighting".

**Red flag:** reading a script, no clear recommendation, team work described as your own, no sense of the compliance and client-money issues that sit under residential management.

---

## Stage 2 - Questions on the presentation (10 minutes)

### Q1. You re-let two voids. Walk me through how you set the rent and how you marketed and qualified tenants.
**[MODEL ANSWER - Leasing and letting L3]**
- I set the rent from evidence: comparable lettings of similar units in the locality, adjusted for condition, size, and the terms on offer, not from the landlord's wish or the last passing rent alone.
- I prepared the marketing, qualified applicants (identity, affordability, references), and advised the landlord on the merits of each applicant, not just the headline rent, because a slightly lower rent from a reliable tenant often beats a higher rent that falls into arrears.
- I put the letting on proper written terms, with an inventory and a check-in, and I handled the deposit and first rent through the client account in line with the client-money rules.
- I advised the landlord on the compliance steps required before letting, for example any safety checks and statutory requirements applicable in our jurisdiction.

**Self-marking note:** L3 needs reasoned advice: evidenced rent setting, applicant merit not just price, compliant written terms, and client-money discipline. The panel listens for the inventory and check-in, which underpin any later deposit dispute.

**Red flag:** setting rent from the landlord's expectation with no evidence. No tenant referencing. Taking deposit money outside the client account.

**Cites:** RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Leasing and letting descriptor (handling, processing, maintaining and negotiating the contractual relationship between landlord and tenant). RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rules 1.10, 1.11 (client money), 1.5 (advice on reliable evidence).

**Jurisdictional note:** ZW: lettings and agency sit under the Estate Agents Act [Chapter 27:17] and EACZ; controlled residential rents engage Statutory Instrument 32 of 2007. SA: the Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 and the PPRA trust-account regime. KE: the Landlord and Tenant framework and the rent tribunal. UAE: RERA, Ejari registration, and the Dubai rent index cap mechanics. UK is a comparator only.

### Q2. You inherited rent arrears on one unit. How did you advise the landlord, and what were the limits of your role?
**[MODEL ANSWER - Leasing and letting L3 / Property management L2]**
- I established the facts first: the lease terms, the arrears history, any payment plan, and the tenant's circumstances, before advising on options.
- I set out the realistic options and their trade-offs: a payment plan, formal demand, or, as a last resort, the lawful possession route through the proper forum, with the likely timescale and cost of each.
- I was clear about the limit of my role: I advise on the property and commercial position, but I do not give legal advice on possession proceedings or predict an outcome, and I refer the landlord to a lawyer for the legal process.
- I kept the landlord informed in writing and I treated the tenant fairly and professionally throughout.

**Self-marking note:** the panel listens for fact-finding before advice, realistic options with trade-offs, and a clean line between property advice and legal advice. Recommending self-help eviction or predicting a court result is a serious error.

**Red flag:** advising the landlord to change the locks or evict without process. Predicting a court outcome. Acting outside your competence on the legal procedure.

**Cites:** RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Leasing and letting and Property management descriptors. RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rule 2.1 (work within competence).

**Jurisdictional note:** ZW: lawful possession of controlled residential property runs through the Rent Board and the Magistrates Court; self-help eviction is unlawful. SA: the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 (PIE) governs eviction; never advise self-help. KE: the rent tribunal and the courts. UAE: the Rental Dispute Centre in Dubai. The discipline of "lawful process only, refer to a lawyer, never self-help" is universal.

---

## Stage 3 - Discussion on overall experience (30 minutes)

### Core: Inspection (L3)

#### Q3. You inspect occupied homes for lettings and management. How does that inspection differ from a valuation inspection, and what reasoned advice comes out of it?
**[MODEL ANSWER - Inspection L3]**
- Before: a desktop review and a dynamic risk assessment for safety under RICS Surveying Safely, with particular care because the property is occupied and I may be a lone worker in someone's home.
- On site: a systematic record of condition, services, safety items, and any disrepair, photographed against a checklist, with the tenant's interests and privacy respected.
- A management inspection focuses on condition, disrepair, safety compliance, and the landlord's and tenant's respective responsibilities, where a valuation inspection focuses on value drivers; the discipline of recording and competence limits is the same.
- Reasoned advice: I advise the landlord on the repairs needed, the priority and likely cost, any safety or statutory item requiring action, and where a specialist is needed.

**Self-marking note:** L3 needs reasoned advice arising from the inspection, the safety dynamic risk assessment in an occupied home, an auditable record, and the limits of competence. Source: RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Inspection L3 descriptor.

**Red flag:** no safety assessment for a lone visit to an occupied home. Diagnosing beyond competence. No advice linking condition to the landlord's repairing obligations.

**Cites:** RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Inspection L3 descriptor. RICS Surveying Safely, 2nd edition (reissued July 2023, professional standard).

#### Q4. During a management inspection you found a possible safety hazard, for example a faulty installation. What did you do?
**[MODEL ANSWER - Inspection L3 plus Health and safety]**
- I recorded the hazard and photographed it, and I did not interfere with it beyond making the immediate situation safe where I reasonably could.
- I advised the landlord promptly and in writing of the hazard, the duty to make it safe, and the recommendation to instruct a competent specialist to inspect and remedy it.
- Where there was an immediate risk to the occupier, I treated it as urgent and advised action without delay, and I recorded that advice.
- I caveated my own inspection: I am not a specialist in that installation, and my advice is to refer it on.

**Self-marking note:** the panel listens for prompt written advice, the landlord's duty, an urgent-risk response, and a referral to a competent specialist. This is reasoned advice with a safety thread.

**Red flag:** noting the hazard and saying nothing. Attempting a repair outside your competence. No urgency where there is a real risk.

**Cites:** RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Inspection L3 descriptor (making clients aware of statutory responsibilities). RICS Surveying Safely, 2nd edition (reissued July 2023).

**Jurisdictional note:** ZW: landlord repairing and safety duties arise under the lease and the rent regulations; the local authority bylaws also apply. SA: the Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. UAE: municipality and RERA standards. The professional discipline of "record, advise in writing, refer the specialist work" is the same everywhere.

### Core: Measurement (L2)

#### Q5. For a letting you needed the floor area. What did you measure, on what basis, and why does it matter for a letting?
**[MODEL ANSWER - Measurement L2]**
- I measured to a clearly stated basis, IPMS Residential where supported, or the local convention where my comparable lettings sit on that basis, and I stated which I used.
- Area matters for a letting because rent per square metre is a key comparison, and a misstated or mismatched area misleads the landlord and the tenant.
- I controlled sources of error: calibrated instruments, consistent application of the basis, irregular rooms, and checked calculations.
- Where I relied on a third party's floor plan I stated it as an assumption.

**Self-marking note:** L2 needs a named basis aligned to the evidence, control of error, and accuracy matched to purpose. Same standard as Script A, different context.

**Red flag:** no named basis. Mixing a gross-area comparable with a net-area subject. Relying silently on a plan.

**Cites:** RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Measurement L2 descriptor. IPMS: All Buildings (effective 15 January 2023). RICS Code of Measuring Practice, 6th edition (May 2015) for non-IPMS local bases.

### Optional: Property management (L2)

#### Q6. How do you handle a service charge on a block of flats, and what is the management-versus-agency distinction?
**[MODEL ANSWER - Property management L2]**
- I work from the leases: what is recoverable, the apportionment, and the budgeting and reconciliation cycle, and I account for service-charge money properly and transparently.
- I run the management plan: planned and reactive maintenance, statutory and safety compliance for the block, supplier instructions, and clear communication with the lessees.
- The management role is the ongoing stewardship of the property on the owner's behalf; the agency role is the transactional letting or sale. They carry different duties and different client-money treatment, and I keep them distinct.
- I keep auditable records and report to the client on the budget, the actuals, and any variance.

**Self-marking note:** L2 needs the lease-driven service-charge handling, the compliance plan, transparent accounting, and a clear management-versus-agency distinction. Source: RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Property management descriptor.

**Red flag:** running a service charge with no lease basis. Mixing service-charge money with office or client money. No grasp of the management-versus-agency line.

**Cites:** RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Property management descriptor. RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rules 1.10, 1.11 (client and service-charge money). The RICS Service Charges in Commercial Property standard is commercial-anchored; for residential blocks apply the lease terms and local law, with the RICS standard as a discipline reference only. *[Residential service-charge standard not separately held on disk - verify the applicable residential code before formal use.]*

**Jurisdictional note:** ZW: residential block management is largely lease-driven with limited statutory codification; the sectional-titles concept is less developed than in SA. SA: the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 and the body corporate regime govern levies and management. KE: the long-leasehold and management-company structure. UAE: the jointly-owned-property (strata) law and owners' association rules. UK is a comparator only.

### Mandatory: Communication and negotiation (L2)

#### Q7. Tell me about a negotiation that did not go to plan, and how you handled it.
**[MODEL ANSWER - Communication and negotiation L2]**
- I would give a real example: a rent negotiation, a deposit dispute, or a landlord and tenant disagreement where the parties were far apart.
- I prepared with evidence, set my client's objective and walk-away position, listened to the other side's drivers, and adjusted my approach without giving up the evidenced position.
- I kept the client informed in writing at each stage and I communicated clearly and in a way both parties could understand.

**Self-marking note:** the panel listens for preparation, an evidenced position, listening, and clear written communication. Communication is mandatory, so the way you tell the story is itself being marked.

**Red flag:** a negotiation story with no evidence base, or no client communication, or no reflection.

**Cites:** RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rule 3.7 (communicate clearly and in a way clients can understand). RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, mandatory Communication and negotiation L2.

### Mandatory: Ethics and Rules of Conduct (L3, woven through)

#### Q8. (L3 scenario) Your landlord client instructs you to release the departing tenant's full deposit to him for "wear and tear", with no inventory and no tenant agreement. Advise.
**[MODEL ANSWER - Ethics L3 / tenant deposit handling]**
- **Rules engaged:** Rule 1.1 (integrity), Rule 1.10 and 1.11 (handle client money with proper care, in line with the RICS client-money rules and any statutory deposit scheme), Rule 3.6 (communicate material information to both parties), and potentially Rule 5.9.
- **Action recommended:** I do not release the deposit on the landlord's instruction alone. A deposit is held for both parties. I require an evidenced schedule distinguishing fair wear and tear from damage, I seek the tenant's agreement, and I follow the tenancy terms and any statutory deposit or rent regime. Disputed amounts are not released; they go to the agreed dispute route.
- **Documentation to create:** the check-in and check-out inventories, the dilapidations schedule, written correspondence to both parties, and the client-money ledger entries.
- **Escalation path:** firm's compliance lead or responsible principal if the landlord insists; if I am pressured to misapply client money, that is a suspected significant breach reportable to RICS under Rule 5.9.

**Self-marking note:** L3 needs the Rule, the action, the documentation, and the escalation. The principle that a deposit is held for both parties is the discriminator, plus the wear-and-tear-versus-damage distinction. This is the single most common residential lettings ethics scenario.

**Red flag:** "the landlord is my client, so I release it." Treating the deposit as the landlord's money. No inventory, no schedule, no tenant agreement.

**Cites:** RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rules 1.1, 1.10, 1.11, 3.6, 5.9. RICS client money handling requirements (Appendix A firm obligations).

**Jurisdictional note:** ZW: no statutory deposit-protection scheme equivalent to the UK, so the RICS client-money discipline carries more weight; rent disputes route to the Rent Board. SA: the Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 sets the deposit, interest, and joint-inspection rules. KE: the rent tribunal. UAE: RERA and the Rental Dispute Centre. UK is a comparator only: deposit protection there is statutory under the Housing Act 2004.

#### Q9. (L3 scenario) You manage a block. A maintenance contractor offers you a personal "thank you" payment for steering the block's contracts to his firm. What do you do?
**[MODEL ANSWER - Ethics L3 / conflicts, bribery, procurement]**
- **Rules engaged:** Rule 1.1 (integrity), Rule 1.2 (not influenced improperly by gifts, payments, or self-interest), Rule 5.9 (significant breach), and the firm's anti-bribery and gifts policy. This is a bribe, not a gift.
- **Action recommended:** I decline it outright, in writing, and I make clear my contractor selection is on merit and value for the client and the lessees. I do not let the offer influence the procurement. I award contracts through a transparent, evidenced process.
- **Documentation to create:** a file note of the offer and my refusal, an entry on the gifts and hospitality or bribery register, and a record of the procurement decision and its basis.
- **Escalation path:** the firm's compliance lead, because an attempted inducement is a serious integrity matter; consider whether it is reportable to RICS under Rule 5.9 and whether any anti-bribery or anti-money-laundering obligation is triggered.

**Self-marking note:** the panel listens for the clear distinction between a modest transparent gift and a bribe, the refusal, the register, and the protection of the client's and lessees' interests in the procurement. A "small thank you, no harm done" answer fails.

**Red flag:** accepting it as a token. Letting it influence the contract award. No register, no escalation, no awareness of bribery law.

**Cites:** RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rules 1.1, 1.2, 5.9. RICS Countering Money Laundering and the firm's anti-bribery policy as supporting references.

#### Q10. What CPD have you done in the last year, and how did it change your practice?
**[MODEL ANSWER - CPD]**
- At least 20 hours a year, at least 10 formal, recorded and planned against my development needs.
- A real, recent example with an outcome, for example lettings-compliance training or a client-money rules update, and how it changed a piece of work.
- Linked to Rule 2.5 (maintain competence, comply with CPD) and Rule 2.6 (stay up to date).

**Self-marking note:** correct obligation, real example, outcome, linked to Rule 2.

**Cites:** RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rule 2.5, Rule 2.6, Appendix A member obligation.

---

## Stage 4 - Chairperson's close (10 minutes)

### Q11. (Chair) Sustainability is increasingly material to residential property. How does it show up in your work?
**[MODEL ANSWER - professional awareness plus Sustainability L1]**
- I would name the genuine mechanisms in my market: running cost and energy performance affecting tenant demand and what a home will let or sell for, retrofit cost and obsolescence, and growing lender and buyer expectations on disclosure.
- I reflect it in inspection (fabric, plant, insulation), in lettings and sales advice (running cost as a selling point), and in management (energy and water efficiency in the block).
- I tie it to Rule 3.10, encouraging solutions that minimise harm and deliver balanced economic, social, and environmental benefits.

**Self-marking note:** the chair listens for genuine, mechanism-level engagement, not a slogan. Source: RICS APC Assessor Guide, February 2024, questioning on issues of current concern.

**Red flag:** "sustainability is important" with no mechanism and no evidence of how you apply it.

**Cites:** RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rule 3.10. RICS Sustainability and ESG, 3rd edition standard (May 2023). RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Sustainability L1 mandatory.

### Q12. (Chair, final ethics close) A long-standing landlord client asks you, quietly, to "lose" a tenant's complaint about disrepair so the unit shows well for a planned sale. What do you do?
**[MODEL ANSWER - Ethics L3 close]**
- **Rules engaged:** Rule 1.1 (do not mislead), Rule 1.2 (not influenced improperly by the client relationship), Rule 5.1 (raise concerns), Rule 5.9 (significant breach). Suppressing a genuine disrepair complaint to dress a sale is dishonest and unsafe.
- **Action recommended:** I refuse, plainly and in writing. The disrepair must be recorded, addressed, and disclosed where disclosure is required; I will not conceal it. I advise the client that concealment risks liability, a misled buyer, and my own position.
- **Documentation to create:** a file note of the request and my refusal, the disrepair record, and my written advice to the client.
- **Escalation path:** the firm's compliance lead if the client insists; if I am pressured to conceal, that is a suspected significant breach reportable to RICS under Rule 5.9. I accept the client may take the work elsewhere.

**Self-marking note:** the chair listens for an outright refusal to conceal, the integrity reasoning, the documentation, and the escalation. Treating the client relationship as a reason to bend is the failure mode.

**Red flag:** "I would keep the client happy and quietly park it." Concealing a material defect. No Rule 5.9 consideration.

**Cites:** RICS Rules of Conduct 2021, Rules 1.1, 1.2, 5.1, 5.9.

### Chair close (verbatim shape)
**Chair:** "Thank you. That concludes the interview. You will hear the result through RICS. We will not indicate the outcome today. Thank you for your time."

**Self-marking note:** no result is ever signalled. A warm close is not a pass. Source: RICS APC Assessor Guide, February 2024.

---

## Standards cited in Script B

- RICS APC Assessor Guide, February 2024 (interview structure, questioning, marking).
- RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Version 1.1 (core and optional descriptors and levels). *Pending re-verification against any December 2025 Residential edition - flagged for Stobert.*
- RICS Rules of Conduct, Global, October 2021, effective 2 February 2022 (the five Rules and Appendix A).
- RICS Valuation - Global Standards (Red Book Global), December 2024, effective 31 January 2025 (PS 2, VPS 1, VPS 2, VPS 3, VPS 5, VPGA 2).
- RICS Surveying Safely, 2nd edition, reissued July 2023 as a RICS professional standard.
- IPMS: All Buildings (effective 15 January 2023); RICS Code of Measuring Practice, 6th edition (May 2015).
- RICS Sustainability and ESG, 3rd edition standard (May 2023).
- RICS Countering Money Laundering, 1st edition (supporting reference for the bribery scenario).

---

*This material is a study aid only and is not a substitute for the source RICS standards. Always verify the cited paragraph against the source standard before relying on this answer in a formal setting. The Residential competency levels in this pack are taken from the RICS Residential Pathway Guide, February 2024, Version 1.1, and are flagged for re-verification against any December 2025 Residential edition. Scenarios are generic and illustrative; no real firm, client, or transaction is named. Final responsibility for compliance rests with the candidate and their firm.*

*Summit APC Academy - Mentorship without borders.*