Paresh Solanki, principal for Axiom Independent, said he had experienced cases where surveyors from the same firm had varied their valuations by £50,000 on neighbouring properties.
“For too long surveyors have been playing ‘God’. They are never asked to provide comparables themselves; many lenders will only accept their own surveyor’s guide price.
“On several occasions they have told me they will not even look at comparable evidence or even land registry sales details, which would provide the best evidence as to the sale price of a property.
“This information is now freely available due to the Freedom of Information Act but apparently these lenders do not recognise this,” he said.
However, William Tew, head of property policy at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), rejected the accusation that some valuers did not do a good job. “Our members are professionally trained and regulated, unlike some estate agent valuers,” he said.
Tony Jones, managing director of Pink Home Loans, commented: “You find that when the market is accelerating there are few complaints from brokers over valuations.
“However, in the current market you will find that some valuers really dig their heels in. These surveyors are accountable to the lenders and will want to ensure they don’t face claims in the event of negative equity.”
Jones added that it was important for valuers to be able to show there were a number of comparable properties on which they had based their decision
