Nationwide Building Society and Accord Mortgages have suspended in-person valuations in response to government instructions on social distancing during the health crisis.
Nationwide will increase its use of automated valuation model (AVMs) and remote desktop valuations in an attempt to complete as many as possible.
It will continue to accept applications as normal.
Accord
Accord will continue to accept applications for all properties, loan to values, values and mortgage purposes. The lender will review its position on standard valuations on 30 March.
As for existing requests for homebuyers reports and full building surveys, Accord is unable to carry these out and will contact applicants to discuss options on properties where surveys have been instructed but surveys have not been carried out.
New survey requests will be given the option of proceeding with a standard valuation, cancelling the request, or proceeding with the survey and waiting for government advice to change.
The lenders join NatWest, Halifax, Pepper Money and Santander in halting physical valuations in response to government guidelines.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS