Panel Management
We are experienced Valuation Panel Managers, with over 150,000 instructions managed in 2022 for lenders we panel manage for. The Countrywide Surveyor Network (CSN) is a model that has been running successfully for over 15 years and enables us to panel work to over 50 experienced firms throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are affiliated to us.
In addition, we utilise lender specific valuers when requested to do so, ensuring that both these and the CSN firms have undergone all due diligence to ensure that they comply with our lender requirements.
Residential Mortgage Valuations
We completed over half a million valuations and surveys last year. We have long embraced the principle of “get it right” first time. We are a process driven business with an end-to-end bespoke workflow system backed by large, highly experienced, confident, and professional teams with clear escalation lines to highly trained managers.
We routinely deal with the complexities of assets described as a ‘vanilla unit’, identifying, and reporting issues such as cladding, invasive weeds, legal and planning issues to name but a few, and with reference and adherence to complex and evolving lender guidance.
We also have in-house developed assessments for the more specialist types of valuation – leasehold, buy to let, Right to Buy, holiday lets, HMO, further advances, probate, revaluation/possession which all survey and valuation personnel must sit and pass before being assigned this type of work. This sits in addition to the more general competence checks, mandating and individual support packages.
Our experience is not just limited to the physical inspection but the widest range of valuation and inspection types. We will work with the you to deliver the best, most accurate valuation using the right type of inspection, for the task required of us. Digitality and data availability now means the traditional drive-by and external valuation might be better replaced with the desktop valuation but where it is not required or suitable, we can value by the drive-by/external valuation and working with you to assess the right level of information needed and to provide clarity around this.
Valuing from the desk is not a new concept but valuing remotely through a company developed product using an abundance of data and information is. The concept is so effective that the only missing piece is the valuer walking around and inside the property.
Our remote valuation is delivered through the PropertyFact offering. It is a product developed and used by us, used widely both for loan origination and other lending purposes and is in use by many of the leading UK lenders. We offer the desktop proposition across the UK but can triage postcodes as needed by you.
Finally, we can also provide AVMs and valuer-assisted AVM, which combines the use of an AVM with input and oversight from a human valuer. This can help with mortgage lending by providing lenders with a more accurate estimate of a property's value, which can in turn help them make more informed decisions about lending.
In addition, we provide our corporate partners with Market Insight, Underwriting & Lending Policy guidance and New Build Exposure Reporting.
As a business that is involved in a significant proportion of the homes sold in the UK, we take seriously our role in helping to deepen the understanding of the industry in matters that affect the home buying process.
Therefore, we make a conscious effort to maintain a high visibility, internally and externally through webinars (own, lenders and our professional body), trade press articles, commentary and membership of industry leading working groups.
Our own webinars in the last year have been attended by over 1,000 mortgage industry professionals including lenders, surveyors and brokers.
