The Melton Building Society has brought in desktop valuations for mortgages up to 90 per cent loan-to-value, while Swansea Building Society has increased its use of “drive-by” inspections.

The Melton says that from Friday it will allow desktop valuations on all cases that meet this criteria apart from new-builds.

The new service will also be available on products through its credit-repair subsidiary MBS Lending.

Melton head of sales and marketing Dan Atkinson says: “We are committed to ensuring that we can continue to service our brokers and our customers and we have therefore adapted our proposition to allow for desktop valuations to be completed on the majority of our products.  

“This solution will enable us to continue processing applications with a streamlined approach, considering the all-important safety of our customers.”

Swansea Building Society says it will allow drive-by valuations on mortgages up to 60 per cent LTV excluding self-build and renovation mortgages.

However, it says these cases will still require a physical valuation at a later date.

The lender says the change will enable cases to proceed to offer stage where an initial satisfactory valuation report is received.

Swansea chief executive Alun Williams says: “In these unprecedented times, we are constantly seeking new solutions to some of the difficulties our customers face. 

“We believe this is a good solution to the challenge of surveyors not being able to access properties physically and it should allow the property market to continue to operate in some form despite the lockdown in the UK.”