Torus Chartered Surveyors are proud to provide a RICS Help to Buy Valuation for our customers. We offer a guarantee they will be accepted by Target, so you can have confidence that you will get all the information you need, with no unexpected extra costs.

As independent RICS Registered Valuers, you get the best of both worlds – confidence in our experience and expertise, with the benefits of our highly personable approach to property valuations.

Our RICS Registered Valuers are a phone call away if you have any questions before or after your RICS Help to Buy Valuations, and we’re always happy to help.

What is a Help to Buy Equity Loan?

Help to Buy is a government loan scheme to top up the amount of money you have available when buying a house. It’s available when you buy a new-build property and you can borrow normally up to 20% of the full house price from the government.

Normally there’s no interest during the first five years, but the standard payments you make are only to cover the cost of the interest from year six onwards. If you want, you can repay the equity loan. Normally, you can either pay it off in full, or pay a partial sum of at least 10% of your property’s value.

Why a RICS Help to Buy Valuation is important

The amount you repay is based on the properties current market value, not on the amount you borrowed. If values have increased you will need to repay the original loan plus 20% of any appreciation. Conversely if prices have decreased the amount you repay will have reduced by that percentage too.

Torus Chartered Surveyors can carry out a RICS Help to Buy inspection in about 30 minutes, including a full check of the internals and externals of your property, its condition and any major defects.

Houses are valued using the comparable method of valuation as outlined in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) Red Book. Following your inspection the valuer will find similar properties to yours which have recently sold and make appropriate adjustments.

The market value for your property is defined as “The estimated amount for which an asset or liability should exchange on the valuation date between a willing buyer and a willing seller in an arm’s length transaction, after proper marketing and where the parties had each acted knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion”

Our subsequent valuation report is guaranteed to comply with the requirements of Target HCA, the company appointed by Homes England to deal with the interest and repayments on your equity loan.

What you get in a RICS Help to Buy Valuation

When you arrange a RICS Help to Buy Valuation from Torus Chartered Surveyors, you get access to our qualified, experienced and friendly RICS Registered Valuer.

The Valuer will visit your property to take measurements and collect other data needed for your valuation, and then compile a 3-4 page report. Target will process this and provide you with a redemption figure to tell you how much you will need to pay back.

To find out more, contact Torus Chartered Surveyors today on 0161 929 7892 or email info@house-survey.co.uk and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have about RICS Help to Buy Valuations.