There are many reasons why it can be important to have an accurate and up to date Valuation Report undertaken on a residential property.
When buying a home, the primary reason for a surveyor’s Valuation Report is for the lender to ensure that the price that has been agreed is within a range that makes their lending on it viable.
For the buyer, this can provide a level of reassurance that at the time of the purchase at least, they are paying what a property is worth. There is of course no guarantee as to what the property’s value will be in the future as specific location markets, as well as the property market as a whole, can fluctuate in times of economic uncertainty.
Not infrequently, the valuation that comes back from the Valuation Surveyor is less than the agreed purchase price. This can be for a number of reasons; sometimes where a defect has been identified at the property and the lender puts a ‘retention’ on the mortgage; which puts a cap on the amount they will lend until the issue is rectified. Sometimes, the valuation just doesn’t match up to the price that has been agreed; referred to as a ‘down valuation’. This can happen in property booms, or where there has been a battle between two or more interested parties to secure a house, therefore pushing the agreed sale price up. In these circumstances, the buyer would need to fund the ‘gap’ between the valuation and the sale price.
There are of course many reasons for property valuations to take place outside of buying a new home.
An important one for homeowners is for Insurance Reinstatement purposes. When applying for home insurance each year, the insurer will ask for a reinstatement cost to be entered. The majority of people will simply make a guess at this cost, not really paying a great deal of consideration to its importance. However, in the event of a fire or other serious damage to your home, this is the maximum amount that the insurer would pay out in the event of needing to rebuild. Due to miscalculations, many homeowners would actually find themselves under insured in the event that they needed to make a rebuild claim. This is especially the case for period properties, listed properties or those that are particularly unique.
Other reasons for property valuations to be undertaken include where the property is part of legal proceedings, such as probate or divorce. In these circumstances, securing an accurate valuation can speed up the proceedings involved and give those involved the knowledge they need to move forward.
Property owners who opt to utilise a Help to Buy equity loan or have previously used Help-to-Buy to purchase their home will require a Valuation when buying or selling their house, or if they want to repay all or part of the loan at any time. Only Valuation reports from independent RICS Registered Valuers are accepted.
Property valuations are an important part of what we do and we have a team of qualified RICS Registered Valuers that carry out valuation reports on a daily basis.
Valuation Reports can be conducted on a standalone basis or as part of another report, such as a RICS Homebuyer Survey. For more information, please get in touch with us for a quote.
