What is the value of your property?

In the last month or so the main problem with mortgage applications has not been the client meeting new criteria but instead it’s been a case of the proposed property falling foul of the valuer.

Valuers are having trouble confirming the recent increases in house values & have been “prudent” with their figures. We have seen surveyors’ down-value a property by up to £40000 on a £220000 property. We have made an application on a £420000 property and had one surveying company down-value to £360000 and another state the value as £410000. In another instance, a property we thought was greatly over-valued for remortgage purposes went straight through without question.

There has also definitely been a tightening in policy which has affected certain properties but, as usual a lack of consistency has been the main frustration for our advisers.

Natwest recently valued a property in Sutton Court Drive, Rochford with a positive outcome. Unfortunately the customer lost the property but found a new house to purchase in Leicester Avenue, Rochford, which adjoins Sutton Court Drive but is about 200 meters closer to Southend Airport. A different Natwest valuer visited the property and stated that it was not suitable for lending due to location.

Natwest do not have a proximity ruling for Southend Airport but instead stated that the valuer was concerned about future saleability due to the smell of aviation fumes. How this is not a proximity issue I don’t know, but it does make you wonder what the current true value is for a property based close to the airport, which seems to be down to what surveyor turns up to value the property on the day in question.

Flats above shops, can you or can’t you get a mortgage. Many of the lenders say that it’s down to surveyors discretion but what does that mean? The surveyors don’t like flats above fast food outlets, hairdressers or any retail outlet producing a smell. They also dislike flats that don’t have an entrance directly off of the street. This means that a flat with a rear entrance is going to really test the lenders. As stated by a respected surveyor, a common sense approach needs to be applied to each property. Would a young girl returning home in the early hours of the morning feel comfortable having to use an “alleyway” behind shops to gain access to her property? If the answer is no then why would a lender advance a mortgage against it?

From the above I hope you can see that the old adage of a property is only worth what someone will pay for it now needs the additional wording of “..and what a surveyor feels its worth”, which has always been the case but now seems to have no real guidelines to follow.

This article was kindly contributed to Pace by Paul Flavin, of Zing Money. It is Paul’s belief that good financial advice should be available to everyone & that by simplifying the mortgage process you are able to make an informed choice through greater understanding.

Paul places great emphasis on customer service & always seeks feedback on how to best improve this area. “Making a house purchase or remortgage as painless an experience as possible for you is my objective”.