Carol Peett cites a client who was applying for a loan for a house valued by a property surveyor at £950,000; a mortgage surveyor sent by the bank from south Wales valued it at just £725,000. “This meant he was unable to get a mortgage,” Peett says. “Luckily, he was in a position to realise the money from other assets, so he was able to proceed with the purchase.
“It is not the MMR affecting the time to sell a property in west Wales — it’s the chronic undervaluation by mortgage surveyors who are sent from other areas by loan companies and who have no knowledge of the local market. They are completely at odds with valuations made by local surveyors employed independently by the purchaser. This has put a damper on the top end of the market, meaning that only cash buyers are able to get the priciest properties.”
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