Staircasing Valuation Nightmare

bobsonthegreat

Hi all, I'm trying to staircase my flat up to 100%. At the start of the process I had to pay £450 for a valuation done by one of a list of two surveyors provided by the housing association (Newlon). I chose Bunch & Duke, for no reason other than they had a couple of good reviews on Google, and they valued the property at £375k. I applied for a mortgage with Barclays and got accepted in principal, but their valuation (done by e.surv) came in at £345k. My broker made an appeal which was rejected. This all took close to 3 months so I had to get a valuation extension from Newlon which they granted until 14/10/2017 (today!).

I applied for another mortgage with Santander who again accepted in principal and who (again with e.surv) down valued the property to £340k. My broker made another appeal to Barclays (because appeals to Santander never fly apparently) which was also rejected.

I just got off the phone to my broker who said he has also appealed to Newlon to drop their valuation and of course they are saying "no, thank you very much," so he said my options are:

1. Pay £150 for another Newlon valuation.
2. Lodge an appeal with the district valuer (which apparently can take up to 5 months).
3. Apply for another mortgage, this time with Halifax, in the hope that they won't use e.surv and we might get a valuation closer to what Bunch & Duke have given.

I've told him to go ahead with the 3rd option but if they come back with another down valuation I'm really at a loss as to what I should do. The worst part of this is that other similar flats in the same block - even the same floor - have apparently gone for both the Newlon price and a lesser price. Has anyone here been in a similar situation? Anyone know the legality behind all of this? Is there some kind of mediator I can go to that can force one or all parties involved to see sense?

00ec25

bobsonthegreat wrote: »

Is there some kind of mediator I can go to that can force one or all parties involved to see sense?

yes, you can appeal to the tribunal as mentioned by your broker

there are countless posts covering your exact situation, selling shared ownership properties always stumbles over the HA's intransigence over the "fixed" price it wants because at the end of the day, if the HA is still a registered charity, it is required to show it acted in the best interest of the charity, and that patently does not include selling something for less than it is "worth"

eddddy

Are you wanting a high valuation to help reduce the 'Loan to Value' on your current ownership (and help you borrow more) ...

... or are you wanting a low valuation to reduce the cost of staircasing?


Assuming you want a low valuation, I would book a valuation with the other surveyor on Newlon's list - and show the surveyor the valuations from Santander and Barclays. Then he/she might well value in line with those at around £345k.



It's important to show the valuations to the valuer before he/she does the report - not after.

You can influence a valuer before they produce their report - but they will almost never change it after it's produced. Because that's like admitting that they made a mistake.

bobsonthegreat

Thanks, I dont think I need the extra equity so I suppose lower is better. Halifax have accepted in principal so just need to book in a valuation and see what happens. Will post results anyway in case it helps someone in future.

MoneySaverA

bobsonthegreat wrote: »

Thanks, I dont think I need the extra equity so I suppose lower is better. Halifax have accepted in principal so just need to book in a valuation and see what happens. Will post results anyway in case it helps someone in future.

@bobsonthegreat were you successful with Halifax in the end?

We are actually in the same situation where we are trying to staircase upto 100% but the valuatrion from our lender (Barclays) is £50k lower than the original valuation from the HA. To be honest, we might just abandon the staircasing and just remortgage our current share since it looks I am reading many recent cases of undervalued property by the high-street banks.

anselld

MoneySaverA wrote: »

I am reading many recent cases of undervalued property by the high-street banks.

Why do you assume it is undervaluation by the banks? It is more likely to be overvaluation by the HA who have a vested interest in securing maximum value for their part ownership.

I understand the wish for a quick resolution but personally, I would appeal to the district valuer under the circumstances.

MoneySaverA

anselld wrote: »

Why do you assume it is undervaluation by the banks? It is more likely to be overvaluation by the HA who have a vested interest in securing maximum value for their part ownership.

I understand the wish for a quick resolution but personally, I would appeal to the district valuer under the circumstances.

Although we have passed our 2 years new build warranty, our house is considered quite new. When e.surv came round they took less than a minute to measure a few rooms (and not all) to do their valuation report, whereas the HA surveyor took 20 mins.

Moreover, I don't believe on current market value in the area our house is that value. Previously, I even thought the valuation from the HA surveyors was undervalued because the surveyor was unable to find like-for-like properties on sale.

From what I've read around, valuation from the bank are known to undervalue properties. However, I have also read that there's been a sudden change in house prices within October in London.

You have to understand it from our prospective, we currently live in the house and all we want is to buy more shares to pay less rent on the HA share. So at least if we can get this moving with a higher valuation our rent goes down and more can go on the mortgage. If we don't progress our rent on the HA share we increase each year so either way we lose out.

We can also think about it this way like buying a new TV. You aren't going to expect the value to rise but only to depreciate in order to enjoy the latest tech. And that is how I see this house we bought, I'm not expecting to be making a profit but instead to get value for money and paying anymore rent for the other share seems to be inefficient when it can go towards the mortgage instead.

anselld

MoneySaverA wrote: »

You have to understand it from our prospective, we currently live in the house and all we want is to buy more shares to pay less rent on the HA share. So at least if we can get this moving with a higher valuation our rent goes down and more can go on the mortgage.

What I don't understand from your perspective is the reluctance to appeal the HA valuation downwards via the district valuer. If that was achieved you would be able to purchase more share at a lower price and there would be less chance of a further down valuation by the mortgage co.

MoneySaverA

anselld wrote: »

What I don't understand from your perspective is the reluctance to appeal the HA valuation downwards via the district valuer. If that was achieved you would be able to purchase more share at a lower price and there would be less chance of a further down valuation by the mortgage co.

I're already appealed and they said no.