The country’s most senior surveyor is on the wrong end of a stinging attack by a senior judge who has criticised evidence he gave during a high-profile case.

Justin Sullivan (main picture), who has just taken over as President at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has been accused of not having a grasp of the details and not answering questions properly, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Sullivan gave evidence as an expert witness on behalf of property developer William Woodward-Fisher, who sold a west London mansion for £32.5 million.

The new owners won a High Court case demanding their money back when they found the property infested with moths.

I was unimpressed by Mr Sullivan’s grasp of the matters in issue.”

Mr Justice Fancourt, who also presided over the Prince Harry phone hacking trial, said: “I was unimpressed by Mr Sullivan’s grasp of the matters in issue, which to a considerable degree, I consider, was work that had been done for him by his team and with the detail of which he was insufficiently familiar.

“I was unimpressed by his exercise of judgement, which seemed to me to be flawed in many instances, and by his approach to answering questions that were put to him.”

Wrongdoing denied

RICS responded to the judge’s comments by saying: “Justin Sullivan denies any wrongdoing. The expert witness process is by its nature adversarial, therefore it is inevitable that there are disagreements.

“To ensure all standards were followed he has asked the RICS independently-led regulator to assess the case.”

Estate agent Justin Young, who took over as CEO at RICS in 2023 after a stint as COO at Knight Frank, was tasked with steadying the ship after a series of controversies rocked the organisation.

Last month, the RICS regulatory body announced it was strengthening its rules after an estate agent was struck off for fraud offences.