At GFW, a thorough understanding of values has been at the heart of our work for over 45 years. Recent changes in legislation, valuation guidance and technology mean that approach is more important than ever in providing client advice.  

The swathing of IHT reliefs for Agricultural Property Relief on farming assets and Business Property Relief on trading business assets means it is now essential for a whole class of our client base to understand the value of their property resource, whereas previously it was of very limited consequence other than in the context of sale or leverage for security. Our teams have seen a significant corresponding rise in the amount of enquiries for valuation and tax planning advice since the November budget. 

Alongside Governmental tax changes, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have today made live the latest update to its Valuation – Global Standards – commonly known as the Red Book. The Red Book is often misunderstood but sets in place a set of mandatory practices and guidance for RICS members conducting valuations. Its main purpose is to ensure the quality of valuations carried out by RICS Members and therefore industry confidence.  

Whilst several of the updates are technical and slightly impenetrable other than to the esoteric world of dedicated valuers – such as the difference between a valuation ‘approach’, ‘method or a ‘model’; there are a number of real-world impacts which have to be understood. For example reporting on Environmental, Social and Governance principles (ESG) is now mandatory alongside updated guidance on secured lending valuations. 

Richard Garland, Registered Valuer and Managing Partner at GFW comments, “We have noticed the world of formal valuations becoming increasingly complex for the past 5 years or so. Shifting and complex market factors, alongside increasing legislative and regulatory changes mean the difference between a good valuation and a poor one is larger than ever. We are seeing a number of firms unable to keep pace with the training and insurance requirements to provide detailed valuation advice. In response to client demand and volume of work, we have expanded our team of 20 dedicated valuers plus support team and focused our training to raise the quality of our offering even further. We have a specialised regular training platform to keep ahead of legislative changes and market forces, including investing in new technology to provide a more efficient valuation service.” 

As part of the focus on valuation quality, GFW have this month incorporated a specific investment in property valuation software platform, Valos. Valos is at the forefront of new technology helping to revolutionise the property valuation industry, streamlining the repetitive elements of data gathering and report writing, meaning we can increase the quality, accuracy, and speed of valuation reports. Automating many of the standard elements of valuation reports means we can focus the human brain power of our brilliant team to understand client requirements, analyse the market and provide the highest quality advice. 

As our clients seek to fully understand how their property interests may be affected by the Budget and lenders require reliable valuation reports in a market affected by a myriad of ever shifting forces; it is vital that valuation advice is up to date, fully informed and fit for purpose. 

Richard Garland says “Valuation is the future of our business, being a mainstay of our client advice. Where others are exiting the market, we have re-doubled our investment in recruitment, training and systems to stay one step ahead. Our partnerships with some of the best known and most active lenders, tax and business advisors means we are at the cutting edge of valuation advice for a number of strategic client decisions for commercial, rural and development property in the Northeast and Yorkshire.”