Most of us, when buying a property, will need a mortgage. The Mortgage lender will require an independent valuation of the property to make a decision to lend. This mortgage valuation report is generally commissioned by the buyer or the buyer’s mortgage provider, prior to exchange of contracts (release of offer) to purchase a property.

The mortgage valuation report is paid for by you, the borrower, but it’s usually solely for the benefit of the mortgage provider although sometimes it can also be for the benefit of the borrower. The lender will have certain minimum requirements in terms of Loan to Value Ratio and the report will confirm that the property is of sufficient value to meet these criteria. The report may not necessarily value the property at the purchase price and if the loan to value ratio is still met, it doesn’t have to.

If you do not need a mortgage, there is no requirement upon you to have a valuation or survey but, given the sums involved, a valuation survey of some sort undertaken by a qualified independent RICS Chartered Surveyor third party would be prudent.

It’s important to know that a valuation report is a basic open market valuation of the property and, whilst it will comment on the general condition of the property, it will not highlight if there are structural issues with the property and if you have any concerns a full survey must be undertaken by a suitably qualified Chartered Surveyor, it is not a Building Survey.

When purchasing an older property it may therefore be worthwhile commissioning your own more detailed valuation survey (ideally undertaken by the same ‘panel valuer’ at the same time as the inspection for the valuation) or a full structural report. You should also make sure that this report is acceptable to the lender and may also be relied upon by you, the purchaser.

For more information, Contact Mortgage Required on 01628 507477 for some initial advice.

See our Valuations and Surveys page for more details.

Related articles:

Download our Free First Time Buyers Guide

Recent posts

Skipton Building Society launches ‘Delayed Start’ mortgage meaning first time buyers won’t be required to make repayments for the first three months. 

According to a survey by Skipton, first time buyers who bought their home in the last five years found that in the first three months of living there, they were spending upwards of £30,000.

If you have recently moved into a property with a garden that requires a little TLC, or you’d like to get on top of your current green space, check out our tips.

High street lender, NatWest, have launched a new product to help first-time buyers purchase a property with assistance from a family member or friend to get them on the property ladder sooner.

‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) schemes, such as ‘Klarna’ are short-term loans that allow shoppers to make a purchase, but delay paying for it for an agreed amount of time.

Klarna is one of the most popular BNPL services with 18 million customers in the UK alone, and offers interest-free payment options which is appealing to shoppers. However, does it affect a mortgage application?

We look at how to get the best Buy to Let mortgage rate, what's in store going forward, and options as a landlord with increasing costs.

Throughout this past week, lenders have continued to reduce their mortgage rates giving borrowers in the UK some welcome news following the change in global tariffs under US President, Donald Trump.

Did you know that buying a house, or relocating is in the top 10 most stressful life events?

Stress of course is an unavoidable part of life and there are many reasons why people experience stress, not just buying a house!

There are lots of effective ways to manage and reduce stress, check out our tips to help you.

With the stamp duty relief ending in England and Northern Ireland, we have listed the top 10 cheapest areas for first-time buyers as published by Rightmove.