Shared ownership Staircasing - Valuation report issues

kcambsp

Hi Community 
Please can someone advise what I should be doing for the below issue.
I informed my housing association that I wish to the staircase and as a result that they put a request forward to their Independent surveyor which I paid for as per the terms.
The survey report came and the price was £460k (20k more than the neighbour's property which got sold in last 5 months). There were 2 issues in the report.
Issue 1: My property has just a carport. But the surveyor mentioned a double garage.
Issue 2: The surveyor compared with nearby sold properties which are further away from my area but never considered the next door property which was valued at £440k

So far the surveyor is dismissive and not giving straight responses to the above issues. For issue 1 he confidently said it has a double garage and then another response was it doesn't matter whether if it's a double garage or carport the price would remain the same. For issue 2 he said his company valued a couple of other property on the same street and both came at £460k. But my argument to that is that properties are not even the same as what I live in and those properties have a double garage and extra feature. So it's clear that he used that information to drive the price of my property but never mentioned it in the report.

The responses clearly show the report was not developed in good faith and instead 20k price was added to my property without comparing my next door property which is exactly the same and sold for £440k. So far the approach from the HA and surveyor is very rude and reminding me of terms and asking to accept the report. I straight away said that I will never accept an invalid report which doesn't even have the right details of my property and there is good evidence that he has put more price to the valuation for HA benefit.

So far I have raised a complaint with the housing association for investigation. I'm feeling so depressed and trapped and seeking mental health support from NHS.

Please can someone with similar experience share their thoughts? or if we have any experienced surveyors who can comment on this case?
Thank you

Bookgal88

I never staircased my S/O property, but I recently sold it, and when it needed valuing for the sale, it was me that chose a surveyor and organised the valuation. HA's often develop relationships with brokers, conveyancers and the like that they then get a kick-back from in some way or another. So, for that reason, I'd be dubious about the impartiality of this valuer. Where does it say that your HA have to arrange the valuation with a surveyor of their choice, or did they just offer to?

As a former valuer (and without knowing where your property is and what type of property it is), I wouldn't anticipate a car port and a double garage having the same value (a double garage would typically have greater value). Did the next door property actually sell, and if so, has it appeared on the Land Registry yet?

Because you have a S/O property, you basically have to follow the procedures that the HA put in place. You could ask if they work with other valuers and if you could get a second opinion. But again, I would be wary of anyone who is essentially acting for the HA. Otherwise your options seem to be to either accept the valuation of £460k and staircase at that level, or don't go through with the staircasing. 

kcambsp

Bookgal88 said:

I never staircased my S/O property, but I recently sold it, and when it needed valuing for the sale, it was me that chose a surveyor and organised the valuation. HA's often develop relationships with brokers, conveyancers and the like that they then get a kick-back from in some way or another. So, for that reason, I'd be dubious about the impartiality of this valuer. Where does it say that your HA have to arrange the valuation with a surveyor of their choice, or did they just offer to? 
As I'm staircasing its HA who does the valuation. I got to know that the valuer is working for them for years and no doubt why the valuation price was more.As a former valuer (and without knowing where your property is and what type of property it is), I wouldn't anticipate a car port and a double garage having the same value (a double garage would typically have greater value). Did the next door property actually sell, and if so, has it appeared on the Land Registry yet?

<i><b>Yes, the next door property got sold not sure if it has appeared on land registery yet. I will check. The annoying thing is that valuer did visited my property and confidentiality confirms my property has double gagrage and later says it doesnt affect the price to cover up. My property just have carport and no garage.</b></i>

Because you have a S/O property, you basically have to follow the procedures that the HA put in place. You could ask if they work with other valuers and if you could get a second opinion. But again, I would be wary of anyone who is essentially acting for the HA. Otherwise your options seem to be to either accept the valuation of £460k and staircase at that level, or don't go through with the staircasing. 
I agree with your comment but end of the day I cannot simply accept any invalid comments regarding the proeprty which pushes the property price up and neither the HA can force to do it. If the report had all the information correct then I had no other option but to accept it unless the valuation price was 100k more than next door lol

Thanks very much for your response. I have added my comments above. Currently, the matter is under investigation via HA and working towards a settlement/resolution. 

annetheman

kcambsp said:

Bookgal88 said:

I never staircased my S/O property, but I recently sold it, and when it needed valuing for the sale, it was me that chose a surveyor and organised the valuation. HA's often develop relationships with brokers, conveyancers and the like that they then get a kick-back from in some way or another. So, for that reason, I'd be dubious about the impartiality of this valuer. Where does it say that your HA have to arrange the valuation with a surveyor of their choice, or did they just offer to? 
As I'm staircasing its HA who does the valuation. I got to know that the valuer is working for them for years and no doubt why the valuation price was more.As a former valuer (and without knowing where your property is and what type of property it is), I wouldn't anticipate a car port and a double garage having the same value (a double garage would typically have greater value). Did the next door property actually sell, and if so, has it appeared on the Land Registry yet?

<i><b>Yes, the next door property got sold not sure if it has appeared on land registery yet. I will check. The annoying thing is that valuer did visited my property and confidentiality confirms my property has double gagrage and later says it doesnt affect the price to cover up. My property just have carport and no garage.</b></i>

Because you have a S/O property, you basically have to follow the procedures that the HA put in place. You could ask if they work with other valuers and if you could get a second opinion. But again, I would be wary of anyone who is essentially acting for the HA. Otherwise your options seem to be to either accept the valuation of £460k and staircase at that level, or don't go through with the staircasing. 
I agree with your comment but end of the day I cannot simply accept any invalid comments regarding the proeprty which pushes the property price up and neither the HA can force to do it. If the report had all the information correct then I had no other option but to accept it unless the valuation price was 100k more than next door lol

Thanks very much for your response. I have added my comments above. Currently, the matter is under investigation via HA and working towards a settlement/resolution. 

Hi OP, what happened in the end?

kcambsp

Hi Annetheman thanks for your comment and sorry for the delay 

No outcome as I'm due to launch legal claim against HA soon. Additionally I have come across another problem following 100% staircasing transaction. I will open up another thread for this.