The provider instructs the valuation, not you, and it is carried out for lending purposes rather than as a survey of your home. A copy of the report is sent to you or your solicitor, which is worth knowing because it is the document behind whatever you are offered. This sets out the sequence, what the surveyor is weighing, and what the Equity Release Council say about a down valuation.
The lender instructs the surveyor, not you. You are entitled to a copy of the report, and the amount you can borrow is only confirmed once it is in.
Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage, secured against your property, or a home reversion plan. It will reduce the value of your estate and impact funding long-term care.
The Equity Release Council describe the step plainly: the plan provider will need a valuation of your home and will instruct a RICS-qualified surveyor to visit your property in order to assess its value. You do not choose the surveyor and you are not the one commissioning the work.
The part people miss is what comes next in the same sentence. A copy of the surveyor's report will be sent to you and/or to your solicitor. It is worth asking for it, and worth reading it, because it is the document that decides what you are offered.
The Council set out the order: once the survey is complete and the amount you can borrow has been confirmed, you and your solicitor receive an offer letter. The figure follows the valuation. That is the whole reason an online estimate is only an estimate.
Why a calculator figure can change →Its purpose is to tell the lender what the security is worth and whether it can be sold. It is not a structural survey and it is not there to give you a condition report on your own home. If you want that, it is a separate instruction you pay for.
What the whole thing costs →Lending here runs for the rest of your life rather than a fixed term, so how easily a property could be sold matters as much as what it is worth today. That is why features that would not trouble an ordinary mortgage can matter.
What lenders and valuers assess →The Council say a copy goes to you and/or your solicitor. If nobody offers it, ask. It is the clearest account of how your home was judged and what, if anything, gave the valuer pause.
Documents worth finding →A property that a lender will not accept is a lending decision about that property, not a verdict on your home. Different lenders apply different criteria.
If a lender will not accept a property →A down valuation means the property has been valued at less than you expected. The Council give two ordinary reasons. You may have lived there for years with no cause to have it assessed, so the figure in your head is old. Or the surveyor noted an unforeseen problem, damp being their example, which needs remedial work and affects the current value.
On challenging it, their wording is careful and so is ours. Customers may appeal against down valuations, but strong evidence will be needed, such as recent local sales data. And where the cause is work that needs doing, a revaluation after the work is completed may resolve the issue. May, in both cases. Nobody can promise you either outcome.
There is no way to prepare a property into a higher figure, and anybody suggesting otherwise is selling something. What preparation does is prevent avoidable surprises and delays, which is the practical benefit.
Make sure the surveyor can actually see what they need to see. Access to the loft, the meter, outbuildings and any part of the property that is normally shut up. Have paperwork available for work that has been done, particularly anything structural, and for any guarantee that exists.
What your property will be valued at. That is a professional judgement made by a RICS-qualified surveyor who has been inside it, and no page, calculator or estimate can make it.
Whether an appeal would succeed, or whether doing remedial work would change the figure. The Council say each may resolve the issue, and that is as far as anybody can honestly go.
What your home is worth, and what a lender will do about it. The valuation is a professional judgement made by a RICS-qualified surveyor instructed by the provider, and the lending decision that follows belongs to the lender. We are not valuers, we are not advisers, and we have not seen your property.
Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage, secured against your property, or a home reversion plan. It will reduce the value of your estate and impact funding long-term care.
None of it changes the valuation. All of it prevents a second visit or a query that holds the application up.
Questions worth asking your adviser about the valuation.
Will I get a copy of the surveyor's report?
The Council say a copy goes to you and/or your solicitor. If the answer is vague, ask again.
Is the valuation fee refundable if the plan does not go ahead?
Fees and when they become payable differ. Ask before the survey is instructed rather than after.
What happens to my offer if the valuation comes in low?
The amount is a percentage of the value, so a lower value means a lower amount. Better to know the mechanism in advance.
If something needs remedial work, what are my options?
The Council say a revaluation after the work may resolve it. Ask what that would involve and who pays for the revaluation.
How do I challenge a valuation, and what evidence would you want?
Recent local sales data is what the Council name. Knowing the bar in advance is more use than learning it afterwards.
Short answers to the things that come up most. None of it is advice, and every figure on this page carries its source.
The provider does. The Equity Release Council describe it plainly: the plan provider will need a valuation of your home and will instruct a RICS-qualified surveyor to visit your property in order to assess its value. You do not choose the surveyor, and the valuation is carried out for the lender rather than for you.
Yes. The Council state that a copy of the surveyor's report will be sent to you and/or to your solicitor. It is worth asking for it and reading it, because it is the document behind whatever you are offered, and it will say if anything about the property gave the valuer pause.
No. It is a valuation for lending purposes, which exists to tell the lender what the security is worth and how readily it could be sold. It is not a structural survey and it is not a condition report for your benefit. If you want that, it is a separate instruction that you commission and pay for yourself.
The Council say customers may appeal against down valuations but that strong evidence will be needed to challenge, such as recent local sales data. Where the down valuation is caused by a need for remedial works, they say a revaluation following completion of the work may resolve the issue. Both are stated as may, not will, so nobody can promise you either outcome.
After the valuation, not before it. The Council set out the order: once the survey is complete and the amount you can borrow has been confirmed, you and your solicitor will receive an offer letter. That sequence is the reason an online calculator can only ever give an estimate.
Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage, secured against your property, or a home reversion plan. It will reduce the value of your estate and impact funding long-term care.
One qualified equity release adviser. They will go through your figures and tell you if there is a better answer. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and Vimeo. Say no and none of them loads. What each one stores, and what Microsoft use theirs for.