Help-To-Buy Valuation

A RICS Help to Buy Valuation is a formal property assessment conducted by a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) registered surveyor to determine the current market value of a home. It is required when you want to sell, remortgage, or fully/partially repay your government Help to Buy equity loan, so the administrator knows how much equity loan to collect.

You need a RICS valuation for Help to Buy to calculate the exact monetary amount you must repay when you sell your home, pay off your equity loan, or remortgaging/staircasing.

Normally three months from the date of site visit.

Fees vary depending on location and type of property. Fill in our enquiry form to obtain a free no obligation quote. Click Here

We require full payment before any Valuation report is released, payment can be made before or after site visit.

We will issue you an invoice and payment can be made by Bank Transfer directly to us.

The site visit will take anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending upon the size of the property. It is important to note that it is a Valuation only and not a Survey.

Normally within 3-5 working days after site visit.

No, if someone else can give us access that is fine, or you can also attend in person. The choice is yours.

Once your original Valuation expires you may request a RICS Desktop Valuation, which would be valid for a further three months. No need for a revisit. Must be submitted to Homes England within 2 weeks of original Valuation expiring or they will insist on a revisit.

Homes England is the government's housing and regeneration agency that funds, owns, and oversees the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme. Acting on behalf of HM Government, they are the lender that provides the equity loan to help you buy your property.

A RICS valuation is mandatory when selling a Help to Buy property or staircasing further shares in the property.

It is an independent, professional evaluation used to establish the current market value of your property. The government's loan administrator uses this figure to calculate exactly how much equity loan you must pay back.

You must instruct a valuation when you are selling your home, paying off your equity loan in full while living in the property or staircasing (paying off a chunk, usually a minimum of 10% increments).

No. Homes England will explicitly reject estate agent valuations. You must use a Chartered Surveyor who is fully qualified and registered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

To ensure your report is accepted, the RICS surveyor must meet these strict criteria: Be completely independent of any estate agent. Not be related or known to you. Inspect both the interior and exterior of the property. Provide at least 3 comparable property sales from the last 12 months within a 2-mile radius. Provide a signed, dated report on company letterhead addressed to Homes England.

The report is strictly valid for 3 months from the date of site visit. Because of this tight timeframe, you should time your surveyor instruction carefully so that completion falls within this window.

If your 3-month window closes, you can apply for a paid desktop valuation extension from the same RICS surveyor. This must be requested within 2 weeks of the expiry date and will extend the validity for another 3 months. If you miss this 2-week buffer, you must pay for a brand-new inspection.

The homeowner is entirely responsible for instructing and funding the RICS valuation report.

Costs vary depending on your location and the size/type of your property. Please fill out our enquiry form for a Free No Obligation quote.

Because the loan is a percentage stake (e.g. 20%), if your home's market value goes up, the cash amount you owe increases proportionally. You pay back the current market percentage, not the original cash sum borrowed.

If property values in your area have fallen, the total amount you owe decreases. The RICS valuation ensures you do not overpay and only clear the true market percentage of the home.

Homes England or Target will base your repayment figure on the higher of the two figures. If your RICS Valuation is £250,000 but you agree to a sale price of £260,000 your loan repayment is calculated using the £260,000 figure.

Yes, you must instruct a licensed conveyancing solicitor to manage the legal components of redemption. Once Homes England calculates your official redemption figure, the documentation is sent directly to your solicitor to arrange fund transfers.

To officially request your loan payoff, you must submit a completed Loan Redemption Form, your RICS PDF report, and pay the administration fee to the loan administrator.

No. Automated valuations or basic assessments conducted by banks for remortgaging purposes are fundamentally different from a certified RICS Help to Buy report and are always rejected by the scheme administrators.

From the day you book a local surveyor, it takes about 1-2 weeks to get the final PDF report. Once submitted to the government administrator, it typically takes 2 to 4 weeks to receive your official legal redemption letter outlining the final cash figures.