How Much Does a Mortgage Valuation Cost?

The mortgage valuation is for the lender, not you

When you apply for a mortgage the lender instructs a surveyor to confirm the property is worth enough to secure the loan. That is all it does. It is frequently a drive-by or a desktop exercise, and even where the surveyor visits, you may not see the report. The HomeOwners Alliance's guidance is blunt: the valuation is a requirement of the lender, and if it charges anything you can expect to pay between £100 and £1,500 or more in some cases, though its mortgage fees table says to budget up to £300 and many deals include it free.

It is not a survey. It will not tell you about damp, the roof, the wiring or subsidence. If you want to know the condition of the building you need a RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey, which is a separate fee of several hundred pounds.

Down valuations and what they cost you

The valuation matters most when it comes in below your agreed price. The HomeOwners Alliance's worked example: buying at £300,000 with a £60,000 deposit needs an 80% mortgage of £240,000, but if the surveyor values the property at £250,000 the lender will only advance 80% of that, £200,000, leaving you £40,000 short. Your options are to renegotiate the price, find the difference, or challenge the valuation with comparable evidence.

That is the point at which a buyer's own evidence pays off. Recent sold prices for similar properties nearby, which HomeBuyerCheck pulls from HM Land Registry in the free report, are exactly what a lender's surveyor is asked to consider on an appeal.

When you need a paid, independent valuation

• Shared ownership staircasing, Help to Buy redemption and some remortgages, where the scheme or lender requires a RICS valuation report: £300 to £600 per Nivek.
• Probate, divorce settlements, capital gains or inheritance tax reporting and court proceedings, which need a Red Book valuation: £500 to £900 or more.
• Buying without a mortgage, where no lender valuation exists and you want an independent opinion before offering: a desktop valuation at £150 to £300 is the cheap option.
• Leasehold extension and freehold purchase negotiations, which use a specialist valuation rather than a mortgage one.

How to save

• Compare deals on the whole fee package. The HomeOwners Alliance lists arrangement fees up to £1,500, booking fees up to £250 and valuation fees up to £300; a free valuation on a dearer rate is not always a saving.
• Do not pay for a separate valuation when you are buying with a mortgage; the lender's one is sufficient for the loan, and your money is better spent on a condition survey.
• If you want both, ask the lender whether its panel surveyor can upgrade the visit to a Level 2 survey on the same day. Combined visits are usually cheaper than two separate ones.
• Bring evidence to a down valuation rather than accepting it. Three comparable sold prices in the last six months are the standard basis for an appeal.