What the valuer says is what you borrow.
Two decisions buried inside the valuation control your deal. The type of valuation sets how fast you complete. The basis of valuation sets how much you can borrow. Both are settled when you choose a lender, and neither can be undone afterwards. Most borrowers never see either decision being made.
By Dominic Whitecross, Co-Founder, HyLend. Last reviewed September 2026.
The two levers
Every property finance decision runs through a valuation, and the valuation does two separate jobs that borrowers routinely collapse into one.
The type of valuation is a speed decision. An automated model returns a figure in minutes. A desktop report from a RICS registered valuer takes a day or two. A physical inspection takes a week or more, and a full Red Book valuation of a commercial or trading asset takes two to three weeks. On an urgent bridge, the difference between these routes is the difference between completing and losing the deal, and it is decided by which lender you go to.
The basis of valuation is a money decision. The same building can be valued at market value, at market value assuming a restricted marketing period of 180 or 90 days, at vacant possession value, or as a fully equipped operational entity trading on its own accounts. These produce materially different numbers on the same asset on the same day. Your loan is a percentage of whichever one your lender uses, which is why two lenders quoting an identical loan to value can offer advances tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds apart.
The practical point: both levers are pulled before you apply. Once a lender is instructed, you are inside its valuation policy. Choosing the lender whose valuation route matches your constraint — speed or size, and it is rarely both — is the part of the job that decides the outcome.
The four valuation routes, and what each one costs you in time
| Route | Typical turnaround | Typically accepted on |
|---|---|---|
| AVM (automated valuation model) | Minutes | Standard residential, mainstream postcodes, within data confidence limits |
| Desktop valuation (RICS valuer, no visit) | 24 to 72 hours | Standard residential and simple semi commercial, moderate leverage |
| Drive by or external inspection | 3 to 7 working days | Where external condition matters but internal access is impractical |
| Full Red Book valuation with internal inspection | 1 to 3 weeks | Commercial, land, trading assets, refurbishment schemes, high value, high leverage |
Indicative, September 2026. Turnaround on a physical inspection depends heavily on valuer availability in the local market and on access arrangements with tenants or agents.
The direction of travel is clear. Automated and desktop valuations moved from a pandemic workaround to mainstream bridging policy, and leading lenders now run them on a large and rising share of cases: United Trust Bank reported using AVMs on around a third of bridging cases in 2025 and expects roughly two thirds in 2026, having extended its criteria in May 2026 to loans up to £1m at up to 75% loan to value. That is a genuine structural change in how fast a bridge can complete.
It is also a change most borrowers do not know to ask about. The full criteria for desktop and AVM valuations — and where they will not work →
The basis of value: what the number actually means
A valuation figure is meaningless without knowing the assumption behind it. These are the bases you will meet in commercial lending.
| Basis | What it assumes | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Market Value (MV) | Proper marketing, willing buyer and seller, no time pressure | The default on most residential and investment lending |
| MV with a restricted marketing period of 180 days | Sale must complete within six months | Commercial, land, higher leverage, sale exits |
| MV with a restricted marketing period of 90 days | Sale must complete within three months | Harder assets, weaker exits, cautious lenders |
| Vacant possession value (VP) | Empty, no tenant, no business trading in it | Specialist and trading assets, often well below the going concern figure |
| Market value as if complete (GDV) | Works finished to the specified scheme | Development and refurbishment lending |
| Fully equipped operational entity (FEOE) | Valued as a trading business on fair maintainable trade | Care homes, hotels, holiday parks, pubs |
Restricted marketing period figures are the ones that quietly shrink deals. A 180 day value typically sits 5% to 15% below market value and a 90 day value 10% to 25% below, but there is no fixed percentage: the valuer weighs saleability, location and the depth of the buyer pool for that particular asset. A two bedroom flat in a liquid urban market discounts a little. A single let industrial unit with a short unexpired lease term and four plausible buyers discounts a lot.
How restricted marketing period valuations work, and how to protect your loan size →
The same building, the same headline LTV, £91,000 apart
A commercial investment property valued at £800,000 market value. The valuer also reports a 180 day figure of £720,000 and a 90 day figure of £660,000, which is ordinary practice on a commercial security. Three lenders all quote “up to 65% LTV”.
| Lender | Basis used | Value applied | Advance at 65% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lender A | Market value | £800,000 | £520,000 |
| Lender B | 180 day value | £720,000 | £468,000 |
| Lender C | 90 day value | £660,000 | £429,000 |
Three identical headline percentages, a £91,000 spread in what actually reaches your account, and nothing on any of the three term sheets says so on the front page. If your deal needs £500,000, only one of these lenders funds it, and no amount of negotiating the rate with the other two closes the gap.
The question to ask on every quote
Not “what is the LTV?” but “what value is the LTV a percentage of, and have you seen a valuation or are you assuming one?” An indicative quote built on an assumed market value can move a long way once a report lands that includes a restricted marketing period figure the lender is bound to use.
We test that question across the whole market before you pay for anything: tell us the asset and we will tell you which basis applies →
Why the valuation is usually the critical path
On a bridging deal with a hard deadline, the timeline is rarely lost in underwriting. It is lost waiting for a valuer to get access, and then waiting for the report. That is why the valuation route matters most exactly where the pressure is highest.
Auction purchases. The 28 day clock starts at the fall of the hammer. A lender that will run an AVM or a desktop report can remove a week or more from the process before anyone touches the legal pack. Auction finance →
Chain critical purchases and short deadlines. Where the valuation has to be physical, access is the variable you control. Confirm the tenant or agent can give access within 48 hours before you commit to a completion date, not afterwards.
Refurbishment and development. You are buying two valuations, current value and market value as if complete, and often re inspections at each drawdown stage. Build the re inspection lead time into the cash flow rather than discovering it mid project. Development finance →
Commercial and trading assets. Two to three weeks is normal for a full Red Book report, and longer if trading accounts have to be analysed. If your deadline is shorter than that, the honest answer is that the deal needs a different structure, not a faster valuer.
Down valuations: what actually works
A down valuation is not an opinion you can argue with. The valuer is instructed by the lender and owes a duty of care to the lender, and lenders will not override their own panel firm because a borrower disagrees. Challenges succeed on evidence and on factual error, and almost never on anything else.
What moves a valuer: three genuinely comparable sold prices — same property type, condition, tenure and period, close by and recent. A factual error in the report: wrong floor area, missed planning consent, incorrect tenure, an extension or conversion not recorded, a lease term stated wrongly. Trading evidence the valuer did not have, on an operational asset.
What does not move a valuer: asking prices, portal listings, what you paid, what the agent said, what it cost you to refurbish, or how much you need to borrow.
Where a challenge fails, there are three real options: put in more equity and complete at lower leverage, restructure the deal so the shortfall is met elsewhere, or move to a lender whose basis, panel or criteria produce a different figure. The third costs a new valuation fee unless the existing report can be re addressed to the new lender, which is worth asking about before paying twice.
How we use this on a live deal
Whole of market only matters if you are testing the right variables. On a deal where the valuation is the constraint, we are placing it against three questions at once.
- Where is the pressure? A hard deadline sends the deal to lenders with an AVM or desktop route. A stretched loan requirement sends it to lenders who size on market value rather than a restricted marketing period figure. Very few lenders are the best answer to both.
- What basis will this asset attract? A specialist or trading asset will be valued in a way that can look nothing like the price you agreed. Knowing that before instructing avoids paying for a report that kills the deal.
- What can be evidenced up front? Tenancy schedules, trading accounts, planning consents, floor areas, licence details and comparable evidence given to the valuer at instruction produce better outcomes than the same information supplied after a disappointing draft.
None of this is exotic. It is simply the part of the process that happens before an application form, and it is where deals are won or quietly lost.
Valuation FAQs
What is the difference between a 90 day and a 180 day valuation?
Both are the same property valued on a special assumption: that it has to be sold inside a restricted marketing period rather than exposed to the market for as long as it takes. A 180 day figure typically lands 5% to 15% below market value and a 90 day figure 10% to 25% below, though it is not a fixed percentage. The valuer judges saleability, location and depth of demand for that specific asset, so a mainstream flat in a liquid city market discounts far less than a specialist building with three plausible buyers.
Do all lenders lend against market value?
No, and this is the single most expensive assumption in bridging. Some lenders size the loan on market value, some on the 180 day figure and some on the 90 day figure, and all three will quote you the same headline loan to value. On an £800,000 asset at a quoted 65% LTV, the actual advance can range from roughly £429,000 to £520,000 depending purely on which basis the lender applies. Ask which basis sits behind the percentage before you compare two quotes.
What is a desktop valuation?
A desktop valuation is a report produced by a RICS registered valuer without visiting the property, using land registry data, comparable evidence, photographs and title information. It typically turns around in 24 to 72 hours against one to three weeks for a physical inspection, and costs materially less. Leading bridging lenders now accept desktop and automated valuations on standard residential security up to around 75% loan to value, subject to loan size, property value and data confidence.
Who instructs the valuer and who pays for it?
The lender instructs the valuer from its own panel and the valuer's duty of care is owed to the lender, not to you. You almost always pay the fee, usually up front and before the report is produced, and it is not refunded if the deal does not proceed. You cannot choose the valuer, but you can choose a lender whose panel, valuation route and basis of value suit your asset, which is the part a broker can actually influence.
How long does a property valuation take?
An automated valuation returns in minutes. A desktop valuation is usually 24 to 72 hours. A physical inspection on a residential asset typically takes three to ten working days to book and report, and a full Red Book valuation of a commercial, land or trading asset commonly takes two to three weeks. On a bridging deal the valuation is the critical path far more often than the legals, which is why the valuation route should be agreed at terms stage rather than discovered later.
What happens if the property is down valued?
The loan is recalculated on the lower figure, which either reduces your advance or pushes the loan to value above the lender's limit. A challenge is only worth making on evidence: three genuinely comparable sold prices, or a factual error in the report such as wrong floor area, missed planning consent, incorrect tenure or an extension the valuer did not record. Opinions and asking prices do not move valuers. Where a challenge fails the practical options are to inject more equity, restructure at lower leverage, or move to a lender whose basis or panel produces a different result.
Can a valuation be transferred to another lender?
Sometimes. A report addressed to one lender can often be re-addressed to another for a fee, commonly called a retype, provided the new lender accepts that firm on its panel and the report is recent enough. It can save both the cost and the weeks of a fresh instruction when a deal has to move lender late. It is always worth asking before paying for a second valuation.