I cannot answer questions about specific properties as I am not a surveyor or know the area or the specific details about the houses, their condition, were there any retention of monies on sale due to problems, any additional reception rooms in comparison to other properties or additional features, end or row, converted attics, planning permission, covenants or any other nature of things that could affect the sale price. It is not just a matter of the price the house next door sold for to be taken into consideration. Just because my next door neighbour sells his house for 1 million does not mean that by default mine becomes worth £1 million too.

And without pointing fingers, assuming you declared a safe and true income on your self cert mortgage and not an inflated income to meet your demands rather than your income needs then there should be no problem using another lender but declaring your true HMRC net profit figures now....assuming you mortgaged a minimum of 2 years ago you should now have 2 years self employed books to declare to the lender. If your income has dropped since this point then you would not be able to go to another lender because of the affordability scales and not because your last mortgage was self cert and you and will have to accept what your lender offers to you. Please remember that it is the lenders right to refuse a loan and not your obligation to demand a loan. If the lender is using a tried and commonly used calculation to assess your property then it will fairly say that if they valued the 3 bed semi...4 bed detached and a 2 bed flat or any other property then they would most likely have placed a different valuation on the property.

If you truly feel that the valuation of the property is way under what it should be then you could find out who else is on the lenders panel of surveyors and ask if they could do an independant valuation and see how they come back. If you can gain a better price from them then this would be a start for an appeal over your current valuation. Other than that, I really don't see what you can do.

Haifax is about the only lender that seems to consistantly value propeties below any other lenders prices but the down side to this is that if you then have to go onto the variable rate because you cannot achieve the valuation you want they have a very good variable rate which is quite comfortable for people to move onto.

Thank you Zeb for your reply.

I have spoken to a different quantity surveyor who informs me that valuers should use ''comparables'' to get to a valuation.i.e. compare the property in question with similar properties SOLD in or around that location.

I am self employed and had obtained a ''self-certified'' mtge which is no longer available from any lender, so in effect I am a mortgage prisoner in that I am unable to move my mtge to another lender.

Let me quote you some figures : 3 bed semi sold for 189k...4 bed detached sold for 237k and a 2 bed flat sold for 204k, so what is the value of a 4 bed detached 3 doors away ?..All in similar conditions...on the same road..

Lets just be clear on one aspect. The lender is not giving a valuation on what a property is worth but it is giving a valuation on what is a "reasonable market value". This is what the lender could reasonably expect to sell the property for if it had to repossess. In quite a few instances this could be very close to the property worth and in other instances it could be below. There is nothing to say that the houses close to you did not sell for above the reasonable local value or that it may have extra features or that it was surveyed through another lender.

If you feel that the lenders valuation is way below what you should reasonably expect then there is absolutely nothing to stop you asking another lender for a remortgage. Most mortgage lenders have schemes that will include a free mortgage valuation. Quite a few lenders do now charging small booking fees but ther are still plenty of lenders that charge nothing until completion of the mortgage. Approach a lender and place an application with them, if there valuation comes back at the same level as your own lender then you have to take it on the chin and accept that your view of the valuation is possibly skewed. At least you will not have to pay anything to find out.

Most people nowadays do still over value their properties probably an unconscious unwillingness to accept that true property values have dropped so much in recent years. Most lenders do give fair valuations on properties, they don't work in cahoots with their surveyors and to call someone unprofessional because your opinion and hopes differs from their profesional opinion in their chosen professional career for which you are not qualified or experienced is just petty sillyness.

Zeb:

Would you question a doctor's diagnosis? or a solicitors legal view on a matter? How would you feel if someone unprofessional and unqualified questioned your professional opinion on what you do for a living? What ever the surveyor has professionally decided it will have been done so by using far more knowledge and experience, data and tool than you can place on the subject and he will be able to back his findings up with evidence of his reasoning. Speak to the surveying company ( the lender should let you know who this is) and they can get the surveyor to justify this to you

If you have a problem with your own lender, go speak to a mortgage broker and have him sggest where may be best to apply for a good rate that suits your needs.

One thing I will say on your own defence is that to me it is quite apparent that the Automated Valuation Model used by Halifax does often reduce property values below where they may be reasonable but this is the lenders own calculation and they are perfcectly entitled to use it, if you don't like it they do not force you to use it and you can always go to another lender.....or accept what they offer to you. To threaten legal action is just laughable when you have so many other options....especially as the lender is uder no obligation to lend to you any way, they could just decline the risk of your mortgage and do not neccessarily have to justify the reason other than unacceptable risk.

I am having a similar problem with my lender and its been going on for more than 2 years now.I had a tracker deal that came to an end and i was moved to the lenders standard variable rate.I asked to have one of their tracker deals and was informed that I did not qualify for this deal as I did not meet the criteria set out by the lender in relation to their debt to equity ratio.

The offer was available to borrowers who had at least 20% equity in their property.

I disagreed with the lenders and agreed to a valuation being done which I paid for. The valuation came at a level lower than I could imagine and almost put me at negative equity.I believe that the lenders somehow inform the valuers what sort of valuation they (the lenders) expect and the valuer obliges.

There is nothing professional about it.

I have since argued to no avail. I have pointed out that a smaller property 5 doors down the road has sold for more at the same time as their valuation and an Identical property to mine 2 doors away has sold for 37% (yes THIRTY seven Per cent) MORE than their valuation of my property.

I believe that my lender will not change their position until I take legal action, which I will do shortly.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

You have challenged the surveyors report but you have not mentioned on what grounds he believes that his report is accurate. You have mentioned that you have found 3 properties in recent times that have sold for similar or more than what you have asked for but often these properties may have more to them than you think...an extra bedroom, converted loft, garage, large garden, end of row but to mention a few things that could raise the price.

On top of this, you need to find out why the surveyor has stuck by his original value. He won't reduce the value out of spite and will be required to justify his value through market comparisons and evidence he has sourced. This is sourced when compared to not just 2-3 properties in the area but an overall consensus of sale prices, current market and local trends, house style and general marketability. There could be property specific reasons why he feels your price should be lower but i would have thought that these wpould have been identified by the surveyor if this was the case.

Please do remember that the surveyor is the professional in these matters and values properties as a professional career. Would you question a doctor's diagnosis? or a solicitors legal view on a matter? How would you feel if someone questioned your professional opinion on what you do for a living? What ever the surveyor has professionally decided it will have been done so by using far more knowledge and experience than you can place on the subject and he will be able to back his findings up with evidence of his reasoning. Speak to the surveying company ( the lender should let you know who this is) and they can get the surveyor to justify this to you

I would also be questioning why the lender only supplied a basic valuation report instead of a home huyers report. If you paid for the home buyers then this is what you should get, I would be demanding a refund for the extra cost you paid for a homebuyers report.

Good Luck

Have been scouring the web for awhile trying to find any help regarding a bad valuation for a home purchase by the Lenders surveyor.

We've put in an offer which has been accepted; we asked for a Homebuyers survey - however the Lender has comissioned a basic valuation. And that - whether drive by/desktop - has come back as 20k under the offered price.

We've challenged the valuation with evidence of three similar properties (all within one mile of our prospective home, all sold for more than our accepted offer price, and sold within the last 120 days). However we have just heard from the Broker that Surveyor is sticking by valuation, leaving us with few options.

My question is, why is there a process by which you can challenge the Surveyors valuation, providing very decent comparables, which are then ignored?

We are currently waiting to hear whether the Lender will commision a Homebuyers report with a different Surveyor on our behalf.

Can anyone shed some light on the process of challenging a surveyors valuation? It looks as though we may have to pull out of the deal...the last thing we want after having sold our current property and desperately needing to move.