Unfair house valuation - WWYD?

[Klaudiagal]

We have bought a 4 bed property less than 2 years ago in Teddington for 550k. It was in a very bad state, but since then we insulated the house from outside, insulated the attic, changed roof over extension, rewired, changed Lino flooring into oak wood and porcelain tiles, new bathrooms, new kitchen, replastered walls and ceilings and put a beautiful bifold doors to patio.. according to property price index, the value of property went up to 588k (did not take into account any work we did), but in the meantime we had 3 estate agent valuations between 680k to 735k (this one last week).
As we are planning to remortgage soon, we requested property valuation from our current mortgage providers, for which we were charged over £500, and we estimated the property value at 700k based on previous valuations. They sent a 20-sth year old girl who obviously was very inexperienced (she asked whether the house was built in 1998, when it is built in 70s and previous surveyor even gave us an exact year based on the specific way it was constructed). I can add that the house is in Teddington 5 minutes from Thames and bushy park, so definitely not an area that decreased in value recently. We got valuation updated today to 580k!! Less than what property price index would suggest!!! And after all the extensive renovations we did.
I called the bank and asked whether they can request a reasoning behind going that low, especially that the house next door is on the market for over 700k, but they refused to do anything or provide any details behind this valuation.
AIBU thinking that since I paid £500 for this valuation, I should have a document showing the reasoning behind it?
What do I do now? Can I put a complaint? I think it is just a blatant incompetence OR bank trying to get more expensive mortgage out of me. Anybody can advice ? Mumsnetters, please help, I am just gobsmacked!

@Klaudiagal any update? Hope you get some answers

Hi, it's been some months since this thread but in the meantime this is the progress:

1. On the valuation report we eventually received, the dubious surveyor said as a justification 'I cannot justify the price given by the homeowner'. Excuse me if I say the obvious, but she is suppose to justify why SHE came up with a given price, and not that she cannot justify mine.. there is a process to query it and ask on what basis she came out with the price, but it needed to be raised by NAtWest . they refused. Officially.
2. I raised the refusal with Financial Ombudsman and they are still investigating.
3. In the meantime, We applied for another mortgage with another provider and got MUCH higher valuation to what NatWest accepted. Still lower than market, but by not that much.
4. On one of the calls with Ombudsman it became apparent that NatWest behind my back did query the valuation after I raised the complaint with Ombudsman, and the valuators reviewed their valuation and put it even more up then what I got with another bank!! NatWest never told me about it and I was unaware that the price have been upped to pretty much match my expectation. Now if I have known that I would have probably stayed with them as that meant I did not have to pay additional 2k for new mortgage, restart all paperwork, plus the valuation was better than what we went for, so our lvt and rates would be better. Due to the fact that they hid this revelation from us they exposed us to financial loss and Ombudsman said that they will be liable for our losses. She is now gathering documentation on that.
5. In the meantime I have raised official complaint to RICS about the surveyor. The case is in progress but they officially confirmed that: she needs to be prepared about the basics of property before she does the survey AND the justification she provided is not meeting any professional standards.

Within this thread there were very few people who were supportive or understanding of the upset this whole situation caused me. Or even who simply refrained from judgment and provided advice, however deluded you thought I was:) And I thank all of you who shared any neutral or kind words with me. I got some good advice on the back of it!

Majority however were blatantly rude, basically telling me that since I bought the house on ex council estate it will never get the price I expected (despite of the fact my expectations were based on 3 independent professional valuations), having a go at me that I dared to call the surveyor young and question her abilities based on the blatant unpreparedness, and basically telling me I should have bought Victorian property if I wanted any better price. To that I would like to say:
I WAS right about the unfairness of this situation and it will have its legal consequences. The surveyor was unprofessional and did not do her job properly. And I love the house we got and I don't NEED to own a Victorian terraced house to be treated with respect that every one of us deserves!

OP, just read this whole thing with horror (so glad you got a good outcome in the end though).

My experience with surveyors in the U.K. has been dreadful - (1) £900 for a full survey that was useless and when I complained, the surveyor instantly refunded me the £900 pretty much instantly. (2) next property purchase another £900 for a full survey …. the middle aged, highly experienced surveyor made a number of terrible errors, really fundamental; they said there was no damp course on the house (utter bollocks, there is a full functioning damp course present) but totally failed to notice the dodgy garage extension which included a door without a lintel. Plus so many other things, msssive issues, they completely missed. Just useless.

So your surveyor being unable tell 70s from 90s build does not surprise me.

Go take a look at the degree course for surveyors and see how comically basic it is - I actually considered doing this degree until I checked through the content of the training and was shocked at how simple it was. Admittedly surveyors get paid bugger all, so this falls into the category of paying peanuts to get monkeys.

Doesn’t make your experience with the bank any less shit though.

I’ve actually found the F Omb to be pretty good so this dragging on so long is odd, I hope you get it finalised.

Meantime enjoy your lovely 70s house in a wonderful location!

Oh I'm so glad OP. I didn't comment on this thread but remember reading it and it sounding bonkers!

Sorry so much time and money was wasted but hopefully now you can lock in a great rate.

I would write a polite letter to the mortgage lender saying that you were not happy with the recent valuation surveyor who seemed unprepared and inexperienced ( give example, she should have known age of house). This was not the standard of service you've been charged for and you would appreciate a senior member of staff to explain why the new valuation is so low.

It’s an awful system
I recently had issues when re mortgaging as the LTV is always based on property prices sold recently in same area
It’s an area where people stay for years so few stats available
They based my valuation on a similar property apparently (2 bed) mine is 3 bed with big extension

OP,
Re read the thread.
I agree that some of the posts were very hostile, but others were most informative.

Clearly the young woman hadn't a breeze but NatWest have behaved very badly too.

Well done for pursuing this.
Your tenacity will hopefully pay off, literally!

The difference of £265 a month over a year is a tidy sum.

Please continue to update.

@JaceLancs

It’s an awful system I recently had issues when re mortgaging as the LTV is always based on property prices sold recently in same area It’s an area where people stay for years so few stats available They based my valuation on a similar property apparently (2 bed) mine is 3 bed with big extension

I know! It was exactly same with mine, comparing with extremely run down, smaller properties in the area... or at least I assume because I still have not seen any evidence of logic behind the price... what is really worrying is that it looks like the banks are trying to purposefully lower the valuations on remortgaging and mostly manage to get away with it. I think PPE scandal pales in comparison, as Financial impact on customers and unfair gain of the banks is mind blowing, especially in the situation when property market is so overinflated already and people stretch themselves out to maximum to get any liveable place at the top of their financial abilities (at least for majority of us). It seems to be - at sales agree to any price so you can catch people on high mortgages, and once they are on it, squash down the value so they can charge insane interest rates... Deeply upsetting that the regulated systems even allows these situations to happen...

@billy1966

OP, Re read the thread. I agree that some of the posts were very hostile, but others were most informative.

Clearly the young woman hadn't a breeze but NatWest have behaved very badly too.

Well done for pursuing this.
Your tenacity will hopefully pay off, literally!

The difference of £265 a month over a year is a tidy sum.

Please continue to update.

Thank you! It has been a long process and I agree with you, the surveyor might have made a mistake, happens, but NatWest seems to be knowingly trying to blindside me and milk this unfortunate situation to their financial gain. THAT is despicable.

I hope it is clear in my post that I really appreciate the input of the ones here who provided their tips and advice, it really helped me to follow up on this case.

@PooWillyNameChange

Oh I'm so glad OP. I didn't comment on this thread but remember reading it and it sounding bonkers!

Sorry so much time and money was wasted but hopefully now you can lock in a great rate.

Thank you very much!:)

@Bootikin

OP, just read this whole thing with horror (so glad you got a good outcome in the end though).

My experience with surveyors in the U.K. has been dreadful - (1) £900 for a full survey that was useless and when I complained, the surveyor instantly refunded me the £900 pretty much instantly. (2) next property purchase another £900 for a full survey …. the middle aged, highly experienced surveyor made a number of terrible errors, really fundamental; they said there was no damp course on the house (utter bollocks, there is a full functioning damp course present) but totally failed to notice the dodgy garage extension which included a door without a lintel. Plus so many other things, msssive issues, they completely missed. Just useless.

So your surveyor being unable tell 70s from 90s build does not surprise me.

Go take a look at the degree course for surveyors and see how comically basic it is - I actually considered doing this degree until I checked through the content of the training and was shocked at how simple it was. Admittedly surveyors get paid bugger all, so this falls into the category of paying peanuts to get monkeys.

Doesn’t make your experience with the bank any less shit though.

I’ve actually found the F Omb to be pretty good so this dragging on so long is odd, I hope you get it finalised.

Meantime enjoy your lovely 70s house in a wonderful location!

Thank you for commiserating! It's been really though for long time but slowly getting light in the tunnel.. to be honest I am very impressed with F Ombs services, yes it takes a long time, but mostly due to NatWest taking months to provide tapes with the call records as evidence. I think they only provided it few weeks back.

@2bazookas read the OPS's posts at least, if you're going to offer advice.

These sort of stories are so helpful for people to read OP, in the papers as it gives hope and encouragement to others who are being fobbed off.

Not everyone is as tenacious as you to relentlessly pursue this.

I would strongly suggest you consider going to a paper like the Guardian or some other paper that has a good customer rights journalist.

Yours is a very interesting read IMO and and with all the twists and turns would make an excellent piece.
Photographs of you with a sad/happy face optional😁.

@billy1966

These sort of stories are so helpful for people to read OP, in the papers as it gives hope and encouragement to others who are being fobbed off.

Not everyone is as tenacious as you to relentlessly pursue this.

I would strongly suggest you consider going to a paper like the Guardian or some other paper that has a good customer rights journalist.

Yours is a very interesting read IMO and and with all the twists and turns would make an excellent piece.
Photographs of you with a sad/happy face optional😁.

I'm pregnant as well, I think it could be styled with a bit of xfactor air around it, with weeping music, delicate tear in my eye while cradling the belly and looking towards the future:)..

I see a weekend feature piece😁👍

OP
Well done for your tenaciousness to date, and hope it all goes well from here!