What to do when your remortgage valuation comes in low

A down valuation at remortgage is the lender's valuer putting your home below the figure on your application. The consequence is mechanical: your loan-to-value ratio rises, and if it crosses a band boundary you are quoted a worse rate than the one you applied for. It matters most at remortgage because this is the moment years of price growth were supposed to drop your band and your rate, and a low valuation cancels out the benefit you were counting on.

Mortgage pricing depends on your circumstances, and this is general information rather than financial advice.

Why the number comes in low

At remortgage there is a fair chance nobody visits the property at all. Nationwide's guidance on mortgage valuations says a valuation may not involve a physical inspection and may instead be produced by an automated valuation model or done on a desktop. Drive-by valuations sit in between: the valuer sees the outside from the road, so an extension is visible but the finished interior is not.

An automated model works from recorded sold prices and property data, so improvements it has never seen, a loft conversion, a new kitchen, a rewire, may not be reflected in its number. If you have made changes like these, our guide on using a remortgage to fund home improvements covers how lenders account for added value going forward. Owners also tend to start high. Most of us are naturally inclined to value our own home a little more generously than a stranger would.

What a band slip costs

Say you put £300,000 on the application with £225,000 outstanding, which is 75.0% loan-to-value, and the desktop valuation comes back at £280,000. The same loan is now 80.4% loan-to-value, one band worse, and the products quoted will be priced for the 80% to 85% tier instead.

Restoring the 75% band at the lower valuation means borrowing no more than £210,000, so you would need £15,000 of savings or overpayment to bridge the gap. The other option is simply taking a product in the higher band and making up the ground at your next remortgage instead.

Challenging with evidence

Down valuations can be challenged, but only with the kind of evidence valuers actually accept. The usual approach is to present three recent, comparable sold prices at the level you claimed, which you can pull from HM Land Registry's price paid data, free to search on gov.uk. Assembling three genuine comparables costs nothing but an evening. An estate agent's appraisal or an asking price down the road does not count. Sold and comparable are the tests that matter.

Ask your broker or lender whether the figure came from a model or an inspection before you argue with it, since that shapes what kind of evidence is worth submitting. If a valuer has flagged repair costs or deducted a retention for outstanding work, itemised contractor quotes showing the real cost are usually your strongest lever for getting that figure reviewed. If you have documented improvements, gather the evidence before the application rather than after the number lands.

Trying another lender

Different lenders use different valuers and different models, so a second application can genuinely produce a second opinion. There is no guarantee though, and you may even end up with the same surveyor. Weigh the delay against your deal calendar, because your current rate's end date does not move while you argue.

That calendar point is the real defence: start the process around six months before the deal ends, so a challenge or a second application still fits inside the window. We cover the timing in our separate guide on when to remortgage.

If the remortgage needs legal work, you can compare remortgage conveyancing quotes through Moving Compared.