VAS Panel has launched a new free audit overview of valuations where the value is over £5m, to strengthen its quality control procedures.

The service, called QC+, is to be delivered by one of VAS’s own chartered surveyors and builds on the company’s existing audit procedures which review over 100 core areas.

Part of the VAS Valuation Group, Vas Panel is a full valuation panel management service comprising over 200 surveying firms around the UK.

The firm said its new service aims to “delve deeper” into the variables than can impact a valuation, with a QC+ audit report presenting the findings to clients, providing an added risk management tool for lenders on larger value properties and their inherent complexities. A chartered surveyor will also be available to talk through the valuation in greater depth with the client once it has been submitted.

VAS Panel also revealed that QC+ has been trialled through several leading lenders over the last six months and will now be incorporated across all clients.

Director, real estate credit risk for Shawbrook Bank, David Morris, commented: “As a bank we take risk management extremely importantly, this is part of the reason why we use VAS Panel for our valuations.

“We find the QC+ process very helpful as it adds an important layer of oversight to the valuation process on the larger transactions. Normally the properties we value for loans over £5m are more complex and having VAS Panel provide us a separate audit on the valuation and access to talk to both the auditor and valuer is very useful. The whole process combined adds up to a safer lending decision in the end.”

Director of property credit risk at Castle Trust Bank, Philip Dabbs, added: “When we found out that VAS Panel had the QC+ service to support us with larger lending cases we jumped and the chance to use it. The separate valuation audit is a great extra layer of oversight that helps our underwriters and credit teams to get further comfort with the valuation report.”

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