Former RIBA president Owen Luder has announced he will stand for election to the institute’s national council because senior staff are riding roughshod over the wishes of elected officials.

Confirming his intention to stand, the 81-year-old said: “Employed staff has a duty to advise and warn but the elected officers must make the final decisions.

“It appears to me that a culture has developed where that principle has now been eroded to a degree that is unacceptable.”

He said his decision was triggered by the problems at RIBA London where the chair, Azar Djamali, recently resigned ahead of a meeting where she was expected to face a vote of no confidence.

“The documentation I have seen indicates staff taking sides in a dispute between elected officers. If so that is not acceptable,” he added.

He also complained that RIBA’s Portland Place headquarters was being “commercialised” too much and that members were being denied its use, which could lead to an exodus of members.

“Effectively members who own the RIBA building are increasingly being denied its use as they are considered not to be of high priority unless they pay the commercial rate charged to outsiders for using it,” he said.

“Increasingly more of those members will decide the £300 subscription is not value for money. They will vote with their feet.”

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