Jonathan Barnett, director of All Mortgage Matters, and Ian Crampton, sales director at Ferndown Ltd, claimed that there were valuers in the industry who were valuing properties at less than the recognised value. Barnett claimed that this was happening often, with reports of five remortgages in the past three months all coming in under the previous valuation.
He also claimed that of the five, three were down-valued to such a point that the client could not get the mortgage they wanted and were unable to borrow the required amount.
Barnett claimed that he believed the valuer was not researching the local area and as a result of the property being valued at a lower price the seller was unable to move into the property they wanted.
Valuers were also criticised by Crampton, who claimed that he was preparing a buy-to-let application and the valuer had under-valued the amount of rent to be paid. Crampton said: “Anything could put him in a bad mood on the way to the property or he could forget to state the amount and accidentally undervalue it. In any case what’s he going to do to back up his argument?”
Richard Sexton, business development director at e.surv, said: “I disagree that property is being under-valued as valuers simply report on what’s happening in the marketplace. It is not a case of under-valuation – in most cases expectation is too high to begin with. We encourage brokers to undertake as much research as possible so they benefit down the line.”
