Alliance & Leicester valued house £70k below market value!!

astep70uk

I've just applied for a mortgage with Alliance & Leicester to remortgage and buy out my ex husband, and was sucessfully approved.
The valuer came out on Wednesday and valued the house in which I'm currently living at £180,000 which is £70,000 below market value!!
In April I had 3 different estate agents who valued the house between £245 and £250k.....why is this valuation so low?
Because of this and the 70% LTV they've offered me £40k less than I asked for.
I've also lost my £340 valuation fee if I dont proceed......what do I do now? Can I get a second opinion/independant valuation?
Please help.......

StuTheDon

What is your basis for market value? Have any similar houses near you sold recently and, if so, for how much.

You can appeal but you need proof of the value.

astep70uk

I've had 3 valuations from estate agents recently and they were all £245-250k.

I have a 4 bedroom house with conservatory, large garden, 2 bathrooms, 2 parking spaces etc in an AONB

Recently there have been a couple of sales of houses up the road for between 180-190k, and they were only 2 bedroom, no parking and courtyard garden. It doesn't make sense to me

nickmack

astep70uk wrote: »

In April I had 3 different estate agents who valued the house between £245 and £250k.....why is this valuation so low?

Estate Agents tend to value a property you're trying to sell as high as possible to encourage you to sign up with them and maximise commission.

Valuers for a lender will be as conservative as possible because they are ensuring they cover the risk should your property ever need to be repossessed and sold.

What have very similar properties actually sold for in your area recently?

astep70uk

Similar properties in my area have sold for £250-290k recently
I understand that the lender valuations will be conservative, but £70k difference??
So in effect that means someone would have to put down a deposit or £70,000 to buy our house if the maximum LTV is 70%, and the lender is only willing to loan £180,000?

luckyfool

Not really, if the valuer were valuing your property on a purchase transaction then its a different scenario as there is almost a presumption that it is worth the agreed purchase price as the person is willing to pay that. A valuer will tend to err on the side of the agreed sale price (unless it is a new build where criteria can be different). On a remortgage they have to go by what comparable local properties have actually sold for recently (last 3 months) . . . not 6 months ago, and not what they were on the market for, but actually what was paid for them.