Abbey undervalues properties and is no friend to brokers
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Either Abbey has instructed its valuers to undervalue properties or they are so scared of being sued they are doing it themselves. When remortgaging a property the true value is arguable whereas on a purchase it is the market value being realised.
But not according to Abbey. A client of mine recently offered the asking price of £722,000 for a property in Maida Vale, London. Valued by three agents and with four buyers offering £722,000, Abbey valued the property at £75,000 less.
The lender refused all appeals despite nine comparables proving that the value was in line with recent sales of identical properties nearby and a 999-year lease being inplace.
Abbey’s processing of the application was inefficient and dragged on for weeks so the client eventually went to HSBC and got their mortgage in a heartbeat - with a valuation of £722,000.
Either Abbey does not check the quality of its valuations or it undervalues deliberately. Either way it’s impossible to place business with it right now.
In the January 11 issue of Mortgage Strategy Ricky Okey, managing director of Abbey for Intermediaries, stated that “dual pricing can and has worked in the intermediary market”.
So pricing against brokers, undervaluing applications deliberately and without appeal, directly canvassing clients and calling brokers introducers while insisting they provide financial redress if things go wrong is all fine, is it?
Abbey staff have now advised me to place business elsewhere although it was my favourite lender for years.
RAY FEATHERSTONE
EXPRESS FINANCE
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