Homebuyers Survey & Costs

Understand which fees and charges you may need to pay.

If you're buying a home or remortgaging an existing home to us, we will complete a valuation on the property and its value will form part of the mortgage application process.

Unless you choose to pay a fee to upgrade, the type of valuation will be chosen by us. We don’t usually share a copy of the report with you, so it’s important that you arrange your own valuation/survey to make investigations into the condition and marketability of the property.

All 3rd party valuations are carried out by RICS qualified surveyors on TSB’s behalf.

Types of valuation

Automated Valuation (AVM)

This method produces a valuation using a variety of different data sources, including statistical analysis of sold property data. No hard copy valuation report is produced using this method, selected data (including a valuation figure) is returned to us to use as part of our lending decison.

Desktop Valuation

This level of survey is completed by a qualified surveyor remotely, which means no access to the property is needed. A wide range of data and information sources are used to determine a property’s value.

If the surveyor is not able to comfortably reach a value for the property, they may decide they need to go out and physically inspect the property. This means they may upgrade the valuation to a Level 1 Mortgage Valuation.

Mortgage Valuation (Level 1)

Our valuation (Level 1) is a very brief report on the property's condition and its market value based on a limited inspection of the readily visible and accessible parts. This report will not be shared with you so it's important to understand that the report is not a detailed survey - it is just for our purposes to help us assess if the property is adequate security for the money you want to borrow.

As this is a brief report to confirm the value of the property we recommend that you arrange a more detailed report into the property's condition than the mortgage valuation. There are two higher levels of survey our valuation partner – Connells - can offer as part of a TSB mortgage application, which are detailed below.

Home Survey and Valuation (Level 2)

A Home Survey and Valuation report is a separate service and contract you enter with our valuation partner. We don't receive a copy of the survey and are not involved in arranging it. The Home Survey and Valuation service includes:

A physical inspection of the property
A report based on the inspection
A valuation, which is part of the report

It is produced in an easy-to-follow format and the surveyor completing the service aims to give you professional advice to help you to:

make an informed decision on whether to go ahead with buying the property
make an informed decision on what is a reasonable price to pay for the property
take into account any repairs or replacements the property needs
consider what further advice you should take before committing to purchasing property

There are set fees for a Home Survey and Valuation depending on the value of the property (see table below).

Home Survey (Level 3)

This is an even more detailed report on the property, which can be tailored to fit your requirements. Again, the report is just for you - we don't receive a copy of the survey. If you choose a Home Survey, you need to agree the additional fee with the surveyor. Then, our valuation partner will send the appropriate terms of engagement to you to read, sign and return to them.

The Home Survey service (Level 3) includes:

a thorough inspection of the property
a detailed report based on the inspection

Sometimes investigations reveal structural defects in the property. If that happens, we may not release the mortgage money until the defects have been fixed. You may have to pay re-inspection fees if we decide that further inspections by our valuer are needed before all the mortgage money can be released.

The surveyor who provides the RICS Home Survey – Level 3 service aims to give you professional advice to:

help you make a reasoned and informed decision when purchasing the property, or when planning for repairs, maintenance or upgrading the property
provide detailed advice on condition
describe the identifiable risk of potential or hidden defects
propose the most probable cause(s) of the defects based on the inspection
where practicable and agreed, provide an estimate of costs and likely timescale for identified repairs and necessary work

More information about the Home Survey & Valuation (Level 2) and Home Survey (Level 3) can be found on the RICS website here

If you are remortgaging to us, we will arrange an assessment of your property for our own purposes based on the information you give us. We may charge a fee for this. You must not rely on the fact that we may be prepared to make you a loan as any indication of the value of the property. You may want to get your own valuation advice.

All of our mortgages currently have a free valuation unless you opt for a more in-depth level of survey. Should you choose to upgrade your valuation the amount we charge depends on your property value, see below for our full table of valuation fees.

Residential and BTL	Charge (Inclusive of VAT)
Property Value	Basic Valuation (Currently free)	Home Survey & Valuation (Level 2)	Home Survey (Level 3)
Up to £25,000	£0	£256	£466
From £25,001 to £50,000	£0	£256	£466
From £50,001 to £100,000	£0	£256	£466
From £100,001 to £150,000	£0	£278	£504
From £150,001 to £200,000	£0	£316	£570
From £200,001 to £250,000	£0	£406	£726
From £250,001 to £350,000	£0	£447	£798
From £350,001 to £450,000	£0	£536	£894
From £450,001 to £550,000	£0	£624	£941
From £550,001 to £650,000	£0	£714	£1,026
From £650,001 to £750,000	£0	£798	£1,112
From £750,001 to £850,000	£0	£896	£1,155
From £850,001 to £1,000,000	£0	£972	£1,240
From £1,000,001 to £1,250,000	£0	£1,051	£1,653
From £1,250,001 to £1,500,000	£0	£1,0501	£1,891
From £1,500,001 to £1,750,000	£0	£1,051	£2,128
From £1,750,001 to £2,000,000	£0	£1,051	£2,366

Some of our mortgages carry a charge if you repay all or part of your mortgage in the early years or switch to a different mortgage - these are called early repayment charges.

How much can I repay without having to pay an early repayment charge?

If you want to pay off part of your mortgage or make overpayments where there is an early repayment charge, you can repay up to 10% (some products have a higher limit) of your mortgage balance each year without having to pay the charge.

The maximum amount you can overpay is calculated using the balance as at 1 January of the year in which you make the repayment.

If you repay the maximum amount and then repay the remainder of the loan in full within six months, the early repayment charge will also be charged on the amount you initially repaid.

Where there is no early repayment charge period or it has expired you can repay the loan in full or in part whenever you want.

Moving home with your current mortgage deal

If you move home, you may be able to take the terms of your current mortgage deal with you. This could be so you:

continue to benefit from a particular deal you took out, such as a fixed rate or tracker that you want to keep until the end of the original period of the deal, or
avoid having to pay an early repayment charge

Taking your current deal with you means that, when you repay the mortgage on your current home to move, you take out a new mortgage on your new home for at least the same amount.

In other words, any fixed rate or tracker would continue to apply for the remainder of the original deal period; and, if there's an early repayment charge on your mortgage, you won't have to pay it. The charge would still apply though if, after you'd moved, you subsequently repaid the mortgage (or more than 10% of it) while you were still benefiting from the fixed rate or tracker.

If there's a delay in your move

If there's a delay between repaying your current mortgage and taking out a new one on a new property, then you will have to pay any early repayment charge but in certain circumstances it may be refunded once your new mortgage starts.

If you need to borrow more

If you want to take your current deal with you when you move, but borrow more on top, you could apply to borrow extra on the basis of our other mortgage deals available at that time.

It's also important to note that our lending policy at that time will also apply, and this could be different from the policy that applied at the time of your most recent application.

In some cases - for example, where you want to borrow more in relation to your income than we are prepared to lend on standard terms - the additional borrowing will only be agreed if the whole of your new mortgage is on specific terms.

This may mean that you will be unable to transfer the terms of this mortgage as described above.

If you're borrowing less

If you move and want to take your mortgage deal with you, but your new mortgage is for a smaller amount, any early repayment charge that you have to pay will be based on the difference between the two mortgages.

If you're borrowing less and there's a delay between repaying the current mortgage and taking out the new one, the paragraph above - 'If there's a delay in your move' - applies, but the amount refunded will be calculated proportionately.

If your mortgage began before 1 November 2008, a different policy may apply, please call our Helpline on 0345 835 3380 for details.

How to apply

Start your application online

If you are a first time buyer, home mover or looking to remortgage, you can start your application online and a qualified Mortgage Adviser will give you a call to go through the details

Subject to status and lending criteria

Start online

Speak to an adviser