Help to Buy valuation for repaying your loan or selling
A RICS valuation prepared to the Help to Buy administrator’s requirements, so your repayment or sale is not held up by a report that gets sent back.
Which Help to Buy valuation do you need?
The same valuation serves all four, but the timing differs. Tell us which one applies and we will book it at the right point.
Paying off the whole loan
Full redemption, often at a remortgage. The valuation fixes today’s value, and you repay the same share of it that you borrowed.
Paying off part of it
A part repayment, usually at least 10% of the home’s value. The valuation sets the figure that percentage is taken from.
Selling your home
The loan is repaid from the sale. The administrator needs a valuation to check the agreed price against market value.
Your valuation has run out
If your three months pass before completion, the administrator will usually accept a desktop update from the valuer who inspected. We can provide one for our own reports.
What the administrator checks
Who carried it out
A RICS Registered Valuer who is independent of any estate agent in the sale and is not related to you or known to you.
How the home was seen
An inspection inside the property, in person. A drive-by or an estate agent’s appraisal will not be accepted.
The evidence behind the figure
At least three recent sales of similar homes close by, set out in the report. The administrator sets how recent and how close.
A valuation missing any of these can be rejected, and the replacement is at your cost. Every report is checked against the administrator’s list before it leaves the office.
You repay a share of today’s value
Not the amount you borrowed. The loan was a percentage of the price, and you repay that same percentage of what the home is worth now. That is why the valuation matters, and why it has to stand up.
Illustrative figures, not a real instruction. If the home is now worth less than you paid, you repay less than you borrowed. The administrator confirms the final amount, including any interest owed.
Evidence, adjusted, not an opinion.
An agent's appraisal is a marketing figure. A Red Book valuation is comparable evidence, adjusted for how each comparable differs from your property, converging on a range, and the report shows the working.
What is a Help to Buy valuation?
A Help to Buy valuation is a RICS valuation of your home’s current market value, which the scheme administrator needs before you can repay your equity loan or sell. It must be carried out by a RICS Registered Valuer who is independent of any estate agent involved, it must include an inspection inside the home, and it must set out recent sales of similar homes nearby. It is valid for three months from the inspection.
- When you need one
- Repaying all or part of the loan, or selling the home. From the sixth year the loan carries interest that rises each year, which is when many owners look at repaying.
- What you get
- A Red Book report addressed and formatted as the administrator asks, with the comparable evidence set out.
- What it is not
- It is not a survey of the home’s condition, and it is not your lender’s mortgage valuation.
- Where it applies
- Help to Buy equity loans in England and in Wales. The two schemes are run separately, and the report is prepared for the one that applies.
How much does a Help to Buy valuation cost?
Your fixed price is confirmed in writing before you instruct us. The administrator charges its own fee for handling the repayment, which is separate from ours.
What moves the price
- The value of the home
- Higher value homes take more comparable research, so the fee rises a little towards the top of the range.
- Whether it is an update
- A desktop update of a valuation we carried out costs less than a new inspection.
What the fee covers
- The inspection inside and out, and the measurements
- The comparable research behind the figure
- A Red Book report by a RICS Registered Valuer, in the administrator’s format
- VAT
From enquiry to report, without the chasing.
Tell us the property
Address, type and roughly when you need it. About two minutes.
Get a fixed price in writing
A firm figure within the hour in office hours. Not an estimate, not a range.
Confirm and sign
We send the terms of engagement to review and sign electronically.
We arrange access
We deal directly with the seller, agent or keyholder to book the inspection.
The inspection
A local RICS surveyor attends and inspects the property.
Your report, and answers
You get the report, and anything in it you want explaining, we explain.
Questions we get asked.
How long is a Help to Buy valuation valid for?
Three months from the date of inspection. If your repayment or sale has not completed by then, the administrator will normally accept a desktop update from the valuer who inspected, which extends it once. After that a new inspection is needed. So book the valuation when your mortgage offer or sale is lined up, not before.
Can my estate agent do the Help to Buy valuation?
No. The valuation has to come from a RICS Registered Valuer who is independent of any estate agent involved in the sale. An agent’s figure is a marketing appraisal and the administrator will not accept it.
How much will I have to repay?
The same percentage of today’s value as the percentage you borrowed. If you borrowed 20% of the price, you repay 20% of the current market value, whether the home has gone up or down since you bought it. The administrator works out the final figure, including any interest owed.
Do I need to be at home for the inspection?
Someone needs to let the valuer in, because the inside of the home must be inspected. It does not have to be you. If the home is on the market, your agent can give access.
What if I think the figure is wrong?
The report sets out the sales it relies on, so you can see how the figure was reached. If you know of sales we have not considered, send them to us and the valuer will look at them. The figure changes only if the evidence supports a change.
Can my mortgage lender use this valuation?
Usually not. Your lender will normally instruct its own mortgage valuation. The Help to Buy valuation is for the administrator.
Is it different in Wales?
Help to Buy in Wales is run separately, by Help to Buy - Wales, and it publishes its own valuation guidance. The rules are similar. Tell us where the home is and the report is prepared for the scheme that applies.
Help to Buy valuation near you.
Every area below is staffed by RICS surveyors who work there. If we cannot cover you properly, this site will say so rather than take the booking.
Other valuations and surveys
RICS Home Survey — Level 2
A conventional house or flat, built this century or last, in reasonable order
RICS Home Survey — Level 3
Older, larger, altered or extended, or anything already showing signs of movement or damp
RICS Residential Valuation
You need a figure rather than a condition report, for probate, Help to Buy or shared ownership
Ready to repay or sell?
A firm price in writing, a local RICS Registered Valuer within days, and a report the administrator will accept.
Get your fixed quote →