Mortgage valuation. Market valuation. HomeBuyer Report. Full building survey. Structural survey. There's a lot of terminology in property buying and it can be genuinely confusing — even for people who've bought homes before. Let me clear it up once and for all.
What Is a Property Valuation?
A property valuation is a professional opinion of what a property is worth in the current market. That's it. It tells you — and anyone else who needs to know — what the property's open market value is at a given date.
Valuations are carried out for several different purposes:
Mortgage Valuation
When you apply for a mortgage, your lender commissions a mortgage valuation. This is done to satisfy the lender that the property represents adequate security for the amount being lent. It is done for the lender, not for you. It does not assess the condition of the property in any meaningful way. Many mortgage valuations are now carried out as "desktop valuations" — without any physical inspection at all. Do not confuse this with a survey.
Independent Market Valuation
An independent market valuation is commissioned by an individual (buyer, seller, solicitor, or executor) rather than a lender. It gives you an objective, independent assessment of what the property is worth — useful for price negotiations, probate, tax purposes, matrimonial cases, or simply satisfying yourself that you're paying a fair price.
Probate Valuation
Required when dealing with a property as part of an estate for inheritance tax purposes. Must be carried out by a qualified RICS surveyor and meet HMRC requirements.
What Is a Building Survey?
A building survey is an inspection and assessment of the condition of a property — not its value. A surveyor carries out a systematic inspection of every accessible element of the building and produces a report describing what they found, the condition it's in, any defects present, and recommendations for repair or further investigation.
A building survey tells you nothing about what the property is worth. A valuation tells you nothing about what condition it's in. They serve completely different purposes.
Can You Get Both Together?
Yes — and in fact, this is often the most cost-effective approach. The RICS HomeBuyer Report (Level 2) includes both a condition assessment and a market valuation in a single combined product. This is one of the reasons it's so popular — you get both pieces of information from a single inspection and a single fee.
The Full Building Survey (Level 3) is condition-only by default, but can include a valuation as an optional extra. For the price difference, it's almost always worth adding.
Which Do You Need When Buying a Property?
You need both — but they can be combined. Here's a simple summary:
| Situation | What You Need |
|---|---|
| Standard post-war property, reasonable condition | RICS HomeBuyer Report (includes valuation) |
| Older property, unusual construction, visible concerns | Full Building Survey + optional valuation |
| Just need to know value (e.g. probate) | Independent market valuation only |
| Mortgage application | Lender's mortgage valuation (done for the lender) PLUS your own survey |
How Much Do Valuations Cost?
Standalone independent market valuations typically start from around £250–£350 for a standard residential property in the Crawley area. When combined with a HomeBuyer Report, the additional cost for the valuation element is relatively modest. Probate valuations are similarly priced, though may take slightly longer to produce the formal documentation required by HMRC.
For a personalised quote for any of our survey or valuation services, contact Crawley Surveyor today.