What is a RICS Valuation – And Do You Really Need One?

If you're buying, selling, remortgaging, or just trying to get a clearer picture of your property's value, chances are you've come across the term RICS valuation. But what exactly is it? And do you really need one?

At Nuven, we get asked this a lot. So here’s our take, straight from the surveyors who do this day in, day out.

Put simply, it’s a professional assessment of a property’s market value at a specific date, carried out by a qualified surveyor who is registered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and is also accredited by the RICS Valuer’s Registration Scheme (VRS). These valuations follow strict standards in accordance with published RICS Valuation Standards to ensure accuracy, impartiality and consistency.

It’s not just a figure pulled from an online estimate, it’s based on detailed local market knowledge, recent sales data, and a close physical inspection of the property itself.

If you’re:

• Selling or purchasing a further share of a shared ownership property
• Selling a home bought under Help to Buy or redeeming a Help to Buy loan
• Involved in probate, divorce or shared ownership
• For taxation purposes

…then yes, a RICS valuation is often a legal or lender requirement.

We often explain to clients that even outside of these scenarios, a RICS valuation is useful if you want an unbiased view of what your property is actually worth, especially when emotions or online guesses cloud the picture.

This is a big one. A mortgage valuation is for your lender, not for you, and is often done quickly without an actual physical inspection. A RICS valuation is more thorough and impartial.

A homebuyer report, meanwhile, can include both a valuation and a condition report. We do plenty of these too, and we’ll always help you work out which is right for you.

One of our surveyors will visit your property (usually within a few days of booking), take detailed notes and photos, compare your home to comparable recent sales transactions, and issue a formal report with our valuation.

We keep it jargon-free and straightforward, if we spot anything unusual or that might affect value, we’ll talk you through it.

We’re a trusted, specialist team with years of experience across the property market. We’re proud to say most of our work comes from word of mouth which, in our eyes, means we’re doing things right. Every valuation is handled with care, and we always take the time to explain the ‘why’ behind the numbers.

Whether you’re just getting started or you’re facing a deadline (we know how stressful Help to Buy can be), we’re happy to talk it through and get something booked in quickly.