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As you are providing the property as security to the lender, they will want to know that is of suitable value to cover the loan. They do this by sending a valuer to assess the property and assign a value to it and they normally want you to pay for this.

There are three types of valuation / survey and many people confuse them

Valuation for mortgage purposes

This is where the valuer is only acting on behalf of the lender (and not you) and will purely provide a guideline figure as to how much the property is worth. Depending on how much you are borrowing it, may be a ‘desktop’ valuation whereby the value si decided by a computer model or a ‘drive by’ which despite its sinister connotations is just the valuer literally driving past your home and putting a value on it. These normally cost around £200 - £400 depending on the anticipated value.

Homebuyers report

If you want a more comprehensive survey to be done then you can upgrade to a homebuyers report. This is always to be recommended if you are purchasing a property.

This will be conducted by a surveyor and they will enter the property and spend around an hour inspecting it. You will receive a report detailing their findings and a suggested valuation.

Costs for a homebuyers report are normally £300 - £1000 again depending on the anticipated value. This is instead of, and not in addition to the valuation for mortgage purposes.

Structural Survey

If the building is very old or there are concerns surrounding the structural integrity then a full structural survey may be required. Costing around £1,500 a full inspection of the property and its structure will be conducted by a specialist.

If you are buying a property then a homebuyers report is always recommended as a minimum. If you are remortgageing however then as you will normally already have a full homebuyers report from when you purchased the house then a valuation for mortgage purposes will normally be sufficient.

In addition most lenders offer incentive packages which may include a free valuation, depending on the type of remortgage offered