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News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
The primary role of a valuer is to establish the price payable for a lease extension or collective freehold purchase. In reality several additional responsibilities within the Leasehold process can be assigned to your chosen valuer. Usually a chartered surveyor, the valuer often oversees the procedure and negotiations from the initial approaches until the conveyance of the new lease or freehold ownership. A solicitor is crucial in this process but because the valuation surveyor is usually in regular contact with all parties from an early stage the valuer is best placed to offer the client an overall perspective. If you do not have a lawyer your valuer can put you in touch with a specialist solicitor at the appropriate time and will keep your solicitor informed of progress throughout the negotiations.
The valuation surveyor will be responsible for establishing the eligibility of any person or group under the various leasehold reform acts. Often eligibility can only be verified by inspection. For example, flying freeholds (buildings which cannot be vertically divided) are excluded and there can be various other eligibility requirements for the surveyor to check on site depending on the situation.
The surveyor will also assess the value of the interest the leaseholder is seeking (i.e lease extension or freehold purchase). This valuation can be very technical and it is the starting point for any negotiation. The valuation will include not only an overall figure but where groups are concerned will apportion the figure accurately between each participant.
At some stage there will usually be two valuers involved, one acting for the leaseholder(s) another for the freeholder. While both valuers will follow the relevant valuation methods in the statutory framework opinion will differ on particular elements (such as yield rates). For this reason there is often a discrepancy between valuations and this is where disputes arise. In reality the leaseholder’s valuation will tend to be lower while the freeholder’s valuation will be higher. Many valuers will provide not only their opinion of the true value but also what some of the valuation uncertainties are, the likelihood that there will be negotiation and a range for a likely settlement level.
Often valuation surveyors will encourage informal negotiations outside the legislation. This often suits leaseholders because of the substantially reduced costs. This method of resolving valuation disputes also tends to be swifter than the statutory procedures. Inevitably some disputes can only be resolved by going to a leasehold valuation tribunal where the valuation surveyor will produce the evidence and make the arguments that support his valuation. The LVT will listen to the evidence on both sides and make its ruling. In reality the high costs for both sides of attending Tribunal means that more often than not valuers can settle by agreement before any hearing is required.
Rupert Greenlees is a Valuer with Austin Gray.