My client is preparing papers for probate. They have sought a professional valuation of personal chattels and gained valuations from 3 reputable local estate agents. Each agent has written to my client giving their valuation at the date of death.
The property valuations are between £1.3m and £1.5m and my client has suggested that they will take an average of them for probate purposes. The estate will be subject to IHT (single person, TNRBs available). The property will be put on the market, as my client will need to, to settle the IHT bill.
There is nothing particularly unique about the property and there are comparables available within the local area, so the valuations appear to be in line with the local market.
Due to the estate being subjected to IHT are there any concerns that a RICS valuation has not been sought and what are the drawbacks of not getting one?
HMRC accept taking a mid-valuation. However, personally where the property is not being sold, I would pay for a RICS valuation. It is likely to be worth the potential tax saving and less likely to have any HMRC issues.
That said, as the property is to be sold HMRC are likely to simply wait or keep an eye for any listing of the property. I dont think you can get away with taking a midvaluation and then placing the property for sale for a higher price (assuming it sells at the higher price).
My view is that it depends how distinctive the house is. The more it is the greater the desirability of a specific valuation from a proper chap or chapess, who has the nous to do battle with the VOA if it comes to that. My own experience in living, being a pauper relative to my clients, in a series of Lego houses in locations where the owners could confidently value their own spot on, plus or minus 0.5%, is that what matters is the availablility of comparables (not the awful “comparators”) and a public almost perfect sales and sale price information system. These days most estate agent valuations are based on just these key metrics, though some may need slight adjustment for the the fact that some spivs’ swans are inevitably just geese. The important factor in some valuations is the cogent detail of recently completed transactions in comparables and their sale prices, which Right Move and Zoopla (others are available) and even the Land Registry are very good at recording. HMLR may only be up to 2 years behind! This is why, as regards the modest fungible type of “Dunroaming” inhabited chez moi, HMRC/VOA are not going to quibble at valuations based on a fair analysis of such sources. If you need a valuation of the Squire’s country seat on the edge of estates built on land sold by him by Barratts or Redrow (other builders are available) then these sources will not assist.
All the replies assume the query concerns a residence, but the opening paragraph refers to chattels. Their valuation can be much more difficult. Is the reference to chattels a typo?
I think the reference to chattels is to give a complete picture of the DD the PRs have undertaken re valuing the estate, which includes both chattels and real property, but the question is whether estate agent valuations are considered sufficient for the property element.