Managing Director Update – Jan 22

2021 was a record-breaking year for the team at Pinnacle Surveyors. As an industry, anyone working in residential property should be thankful that we have all been kept busy during the pandemic. At Pinnacle Surveyors, our thoughts go out to anyone affected by the current situation. At the time of writing, the Government has just lifted Plan B measures so, hopefully, we will all be returning to some semblance of a “new normal” soon.

I would like to thank all the team at Pinnacle Surveyors for their efforts during 2021. The teamwork shown by all has been immense and is the basis of our continued success, reflected in the 45% increase in turnover from 2020. Thanks also goes to our panel and lender suppliers for their ongoing support and guidance, and to our numerous private clients who appreciate our quality and high standards.

2021 saw us value over £8.5 billion worth of property. The average value of property in 2021 across our 40+ office locations was £306,000. This is a 7% increase in the average value from 2020, which is roughly in line with most other commentator’s views on the rise of property values over the period. Interestingly, the average LTV across all our lending cases in 2021 was 68%, slightly down on the average in 2020 of 69%. This suggests to us that there is still a requirement for physical inspections at lower LTVs. One notable change, probably reflective of lender’s confidence in the market, has been an increase in the number of cases above 90% LTV from a low of 7% in August 2020 to an average in Q4 2021 of 16%.

We have increased our surveyor numbers by 37% since the lifting of lockdown restrictions in Summer 2020. We now have coverage in locations including Lancashire and the Lake District, Essex, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Shropshire, Norfolk, North and West London, Somerset, Lincolnshire, and South Wales. Our programme of expansion and recruitment of both experienced and newly qualified surveyors will continue into 2022.

Our success in building relationships has seen us work with new panel manager and lender clients, with further additions anticipated to this in 2022. We have introduced improved systems for dealing with lender’s post valuation queries and continue to work closely with our main software provider to improve and develop the technology, not only to our own benefit but to the benefit of other surveying firms that use the system.

With the introduction of the RICS Home Survey Standard in Summer 2021, we improved our working practices by establishing a new team in our Head Office to support and guide customers through the home buying process. The success of this has been noted in our Trustpilot reviews.

January has seen a steady start to 2022 but, despite the concerns of rising inflation and interest rates, we are confident that the housing market will remain buoyant and will soon pick up to the usual seasonal improvement we see leading up to Easter. Commentators such as Rightmove, who had their busiest website traffic day ever during the festive period, also support this view.

We are expecting changes to the survey and valuation industry to continue into 2022. Remote valuations are becoming more popular for lenders, and we are currently training our teams for this work. We will be looking at improving our survey offering in 2022, with snagging reports an expected addition later this year. We are also very keen to be involved in the movement towards net zero, both as a firm and to support our customers and consumers in whatever advice and assistance we can give.

We’re looking forward to another busy year and wish all our suppliers and customers a similar happy and prosperous year ahead.

David Ellison, MRICS

Managing Director