Challenge rental valuation??

vnk

Hi everybody,
First thanks for reading and hopefully answering... I need advices to go through all this..:D

I am currently buying a flat to live in and at the same time remortgaging my current flat as a BTL (so it never been rented).
Both mortgages were agreed on principle, but the valuation on the BTL spoiled my plan.
Indeed rental income has to to be 125% of mortgage payment...
and the grrrrr :mad: of surveyor put rental income at £825. I needed £862.
It seems to be nonsense, I got two prior valuations from estate agents at £900 and £1000.
One rental asking price in the building is at the moment £996 which the surveyor used as comparable in his report. He also used rented flats, one in a nearby block flat at £875 and one in my block at £820.
All flats in my block are studio or 1 bed as mine so I wonder if the £820 is a studio?? The agent I am buying confirmed to me they rented one flat last month at £1100...
I know surveyor have to work on the safe side but the average of the comparable he used will make me more than happy....not this £825 :mad:

Has anybody ever challenged the valuation of the rental income?
How do you proceed?
Would you agree to give details to your neighbour if they knock on your door to ask for your rent?

kmmr

Let me guess - the surveyors were e-surv?

vnk

I have no idea... I wasn't worried so I didn't pay attention when they called for the appointment...

blackshirtuk

Yes you can challenge. I had exactly the same problem a few years back, My lender asked me to provide 3 Lettings Agent letters suggesting a rental price for my place plus 2 comparables in the area.

I guess the lenders know that surveyors are not the most reliable source of information when it comes to rental prices.

theartfullodger

Have you considered the possibility that the valuations are correct, but your expectations were over optimistic??

Cheers!

Artful

vnk

@Artful: I had... that's why before putting my offer I had valuations and did all my numbers...
@Blackshirtuk: how did you proceed to find your comparables... door to door and did you had to provide documents for them?

blackshirtuk

vnk wrote: »

how did you proceed to find your comparables...

I posed as a potential tenant and asked the local letting agents what they had available to rent for £xxx (my rental price) in my area and sent details of property similar to mine to the lender.

vnk

Just a quick one to say that I did as detailed above to challenge the valuation which came back higher now... :j
Thanks again