Guaranteed fee scale introduced by VAS Panel

The firm argued this was a first for the specialist market, with short-form templates starting at £265 excluding VAT for single houses, single flats and single buy to lets in England. This assumes that market rent and rental comparables are provided, as well as that the property has a kitchen and bathroom, and is in mortgageable condition.

VAS Panel suggested that having a guaranteed fee scale in place would remove the need to wait around for quotes, ensuring that brokers could immediately instruct the valuers and enjoy a faster valuation process to boot.

The service will be on offer through VAS’s full panel, which consists of more than 500 valuers across the country. 

Stephen Todd (pictured), chief commercial officer and co-founder at VAS Panel, argued that the new service would be a “real game changer” for the specialist finance industry.

He explained that while VAS Panel has always had a fee scale, this has previously been treated as a guide as it was not clear which valuers would accept specialist finance work until now.

Todd continued: “A guaranteed service can only be delivered with the right quality and spread of first-class residential valuers, which we now possess, and an in-house quality control system that ensures every report meets our highest requirements, both of these we have achieved.

“Approximately 50% of our quotes and instructions are classified as residential properties, so for us this is a huge move, but more importantly for lenders, brokers and their clients it offers a guaranteed price at the start of the valuations process while also delivering faster reports and ultimately a quicker drawdown.”