What is an equity release valuation?

When will you receive a date for your equity release property inspection?

As soon as we receive the valuation instruction from your equity release lender, you will be invited to book an appointment for a valuing surveyor to visit the property. If you’ve provided a mobile number you will receive an invitation by SMS text message to book your own appointment from the next three available appointment dates. If you haven’t provided a mobile number or you don’t reply to the SMS text message, you will receive a telephone call from our booking team. When the appointment is booked, you will be offered an appointment between 8am and 2pm. Only the evening before the appointment will you receive a text message confirming the 1-hour window in which the valuing surveyor will arrive at the property.

What can you expect on the day of the equity release inspection?

Only the day of the inspection, the valuing surveyor:

• will introduce themselves and show you their ID
• will either remove their shoes or put coverings over their shoes to protect your carpets
• is unlikely to be wearing a suit or formal clothing as valuations often involve inspections of loft spaces, cellars etc.
• will explain what he/she will be doing and how long the valuation is expected to take
• will take several photographs including (but not limited to) the kitchen, bathroom, garden, rear view of property, front view of property and street view
• will take damp meter readings throughout the ground floor using a small device held against the wall
• will not move furniture
• will ask you some questions about the property e.g. is the property freehold or leasehold? Have any structural repairs, extensions or modernisations been carried out?

Important points to remember:

• the valuation appointment is a visual inspection only, to assess value -the surveyor is not conducting a comprehensive building or structural survey
• the surveyor will take some measurements of the property to enable properties of a similar size to be used as comparable evidence
• the surveyor will not determine the value of the property during the inspection -this will be determined following thorough assessment and comparison with comparable property sales •as the valuation report is completed on behalf of your equity release lender, the surveyor is unable to discuss the valuation report in detail with you
• GDPR legislation (Data Protection) prevents the surveyor from sharing his/her findings directly with you.