Right to Buy Valuations in London
Council and housing-association tenants exercising the Right to Buy need an independent market valuation of their home. Wimbledon Surveyors provides RICS valuations across London — and can advise if you believe your landlord’s figure is wrong. Speak to a valuer.
How Right to Buy Valuation Works
Your landlord instructs a valuation to set the market value, from which your statutory discount is deducted. An independent RICS valuation lets you check that figure is fair before you commit.
Challenging the Landlord’s Figure
If you think the valuation is too high, you can ask the District Valuer to determine it. Our independent report gives you the evidence to support a challenge and potentially reduce your price.
Local Market Knowledge
Accurate Right to Buy figures depend on genuinely comparable local sales. Our valuers know Wimbledon and the London boroughs and value from real evidence, not guesswork.
Leasehold Flats and Houses
We value both freehold houses and leasehold flats under Right to Buy, accounting for lease length, service charges and any structural issues affecting value.
Get an Independent Valuation
Before you accept your landlord’s price, get a second opinion. Request a Right to Buy valuation quote today.
Right to Buy Valuations for Council and Housing Association Homes
If you are buying your council home under the Right to Buy scheme — or staircasing a shared ownership property — the price starts with a market valuation. Your landlord will obtain its own figure, but tenants have the right to challenge it, and an independent RICS Red Book valuation is the evidence that makes a challenge stick. Our RICS Registered Valuers provide Right to Buy, Right to Acquire and shared ownership valuations across London and Essex, giving you a defensible market value before you commit to one of the biggest purchases of your life.
How the Right to Buy Price Is Set
The purchase price is the open market value of your home at the date of your application, less your statutory discount, which grows with your years as a public-sector tenant up to the regional maximum. Improvements you have made as a tenant are disregarded from the valuation — a point landlords’ valuers sometimes miss and one we always check. If you believe the landlord’s figure is too high, you can request a determination by the District Valuer; our report gives that appeal real evidential weight.
Shared Ownership and Staircasing Valuations
Housing association leaseholders buying additional shares (staircasing) or selling a shared ownership home need a RICS valuation — it is a requirement of virtually every housing association lease. We provide staircasing valuations with the comparable evidence schedule associations expect, typically valid for three months, and can update the figure quickly if your transaction runs past the validity window.
Why an Independent Valuation Protects You
- Challenge overvaluation — a lower defensible market value directly reduces the price you pay after discount.
- Mortgage confidence — lenders’ surveyors value conservatively; knowing the true figure early avoids down-valuation shocks.
- Tenant improvements excluded — we make sure your own kitchen, bathroom or extension does not inflate the price you pay.
- Condition reflected honestly — disrepair the landlord has not addressed should be reflected in value.
Buying Your Council House: Next Steps
Before or shortly after you submit your RTB1 application, instruct an independent valuation so you know what the property is genuinely worth. If your home is an older property, consider pairing the valuation with a Level 2 HomeBuyer Survey or Level 3 Building Survey so you understand its condition as well as its value — flats in converted or system-built blocks can carry expensive defects that a valuation alone will not investigate. We also provide leasehold advice for flat buyers and the full range of RICS valuations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. If you think the offer notice price is too high you can ask for a determination by the District Valuer within three months. An independent RICS valuation with comparable evidence is the strongest support for your case — tenants who challenge with professional evidence frequently achieve a lower price.
No — improvements you have made as a tenant must be disregarded when the property is valued. We identify and document your improvements so they are properly excluded from the valuation.
The discount depends on your qualifying years as a public-sector tenant, whether the property is a house or flat, and the regional maximum discount cap in force at your application date. The discount is applied to the market valuation — which is why the valuation itself matters so much.
Yes — almost all housing association leases require a valuation by an RICS Registered Valuer to set the share price. Estate agent appraisals are not accepted. Our staircasing reports follow the format associations specify and are typically valid for three months.
For Right to Buy and staircasing instructions in London and Essex we can usually inspect within a few working days and report within a week, with faster turnaround available when a deadline is close.