How to challenge remortgage valuations

Homeowners looking to remortgage have been hit by mortgage lenders revaluing their properties downwards and reducing their equity.
With the best mortgage deals only available to those with at least a 25% deposit or that much equity in their home, a growing number of homeowners say that lenders are revaluing their home downwards, pushing them into more expensive categories.

But while homeowners may feel their bank or building society has them over a barrel, it is possible to challenge valuations and get a better mortgage deal.
Although house prices have fallen on average across the UK by 20% since the late 2007 peak, many areas have not suffered as badly as others and recent months have even seen the market pick up in some locations

Meanwhile, lenders should take into account improvements that have boosted a property's value and valuations should be based not on a surveyor or lenders' negative sentiment, but a fair open market value of a property.

Here are five steps to challenge an unfair valuation.


Source