An increase in property down valuations, with some homes being marked down by 10% or more by surveyors, is “turning deals and lives upside down,” mortgage experts claim.
Some believe that uncertainty around the contents of the budget may be fuelling a rise in surveyors taking a cautious stance and valuing properties at less than the agreed price.
Jonathan Alvarez Herrera, at the broker Ayla Mortgages, had seen “a definite uptick” in down valuations in the mortgage market during recent months. Asked about the scale of the markdowns, he said it depended on location, “but I would say about 10% on average”.
He added: “I have found the south-east and London particularly affected, but this is simply down to the fact that properties have a higher value.”
Official Land Registry data issued on Wednesday showed UK house price inflation running at 2.6% in the year to the end of September. However, this figure disguised wide regional variations: in London, prices fell by 1.8% over the year. Meanwhile, the property website Rightmove said this week that budget speculation “is fuelling uncertainty across much of the market”.
A down valuation typically occurs when a surveyor acting on behalf of a mortgage lender carries out a valuation of a property and concludes that its market value is less – sometimes a lot less – than the agreed sale price. This can have big consequences for all involved. A buyer might be able to renegotiate the price with the seller, but if that does not work, they may opt to switch to a different mortgage lender to get another valuation.
If that does not succeed, the buyer may have to borrow more to cover the shortfall, stump up a larger deposit, or abandon the purchase.
Alvarez Herrera said he had recently seen a property down valued from £3.1m to £3m. Although proportionally this was not a large markdown, the client was not willing to put down an extra £100,000 deposit and could not renegotiate the price, so the purchase fell through.
Patricia McGirr, at Repossession Rescue, which focuses on people in financial difficulty, said down valuations “are turning deals and lives upside down. Even the same surveyors are cutting values within months, particularly in London”.
She said: “Whether it’s lender caution, local sentiment or pre-budget jitters, valuations have become a postcode lottery.” For sellers, developers and others “it’s causing chaos and stress”.
She recently had two cases down valued, one in London by 17%.
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Vijay Rabadiya, at the broker The Mortgage Vine, said most down valuations were “moderate – usually between 2% and 5% below the agreed purchase price”, and added: “New-build flats, unique or rural properties and homes in slower, southern markets tend to attract the most scrutiny [by surveyors].”
Other brokers have reported valuations coming in at anything from 5% to 15% below recent comparable sale prices.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) says on its website that “in reality there is no such thing as a ‘down valuation’. What is being described is the difference between worth (to the individual buyer/seller) and market value”.
It adds: “It is important to recognise that the ‘client’ in most circumstances is, say, a bank or building society [the lender], not the person taking the mortgage.”
