The society was able to progress valuations in almost three-quarters of mortgage applications during the COVID-19 lockdown, and began to book appointments for physical valuations on the remainder after the government eased restrictions.
During the lockdown, Leeds Building Society worked with intermediary partners to progress applications, confirm offers and complete mortgages, as well as offering support, including payment holidays, to existing borrowers.
Jaedon Green, chief customer officer at Leeds Building Society, said: “We want to ensure the mortgage property market continues to operate smoothly, despite the volume of cases awaiting valuation across the industry.
“All of us are keen to see the housing market return closer to normality as soon as possible, but it may take a little time to get used to the new working practices required to ensure buyers, sellers and surveyors stay safe.
“We use local valuers, who work in and are familiar with the local area, and are pleased to have been able to keep any delays to a minimum.
“Desktop valuations will continue to be used where appropriate and, for homeowners particularly concerned about social distancing, we’re also piloting external inspections which mean a valuer will still visit their home but doesn’t need to enter it.”
Matthew Cumber, managing director of Countrywide’s Surveying Services, said the safety of homeowners and valuers was its priority while progressing pipeline cases.
Cumber said: “To do this we’re accelerating the activity required to ensure our workplaces are ‘COVID-secure’ and introducing additional measures to assess and mitigate risk.
“This includes extra support for all our colleagues, such as [personal protective equipment (PPE)], to enable them to carry out work in a safe and secure way and offer added reassurance to homeowners.”
