Market value of land

 

How to find out the market value of land for Cydcoed bids

Background
The Cydcoed Guidelines state: "We can fund the cost of buying land up to market value (determined by an independent qualified valuer); the land is within the Objective 1 area; the land is devoted to the intended use for at least 20 years; and the purchase is made by a body governed by public law (e.g.: local authority, registered charity, company limited by guarantee, community council). Up to 10% of our total grant fund can be given for buying land."

What this means for your Cydcoed project
Market Value
You may have heard of District Valuation. The Guidelines refer to Market Valuation. This is an important distinction because a market valuation can take more local conditions into account.

What if the valuation is less than the landowner is asking for?
You will need to decide if you want to go ahead with the purchase anyway. We may not be able to fund the purchase at all. However, if you can explain why paying above market value is justified we may be able to fund you up to market value only, you would have to find the difference from other sources.

Finding someone to value the land
To find an independent qualified valuer we suggest you use a professional with chartered status.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will provide free of charge a list of suitable valuers in your area:
www.rics.org/dirTel: 0870 3331600 mailto:contactrics@rics.org.uk

For valuation of woodland the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) may be useful. For a list of ICF members that provide valuation services go to:
http://www.charteredforesters.org   Tel: 0131 225 2705   e-mail: icf@charteredforesters.org
Please note that as at 30.09.04 there is a proposal for ICF to merge with RICS.

You do not need a detailed report on the land for the valuation but one may be appropriate for other reasons.

A simple valuation will normally cost in the region of £100 - £300. You should make sure you get good value for money by following the Cydcoed guidelines.
The cost is eligible for Cydcoed funding only if the work is commissioned after the project starts. If the price in your bid is found to be too high and you cannot proceed with the purchase, we will normally cover the cost of the valuation.

It may be better to get a valuation before submitting the bid, but in this case we would not fund the cost. However, it may be appropriate for us to get the valuation ourselves as part of the normal professional advice we would get when assessing a project.

NB: "Up to 10% of our total grant fund can be given for buying land": This means that any fraction of your bid can be for buying land but we can’t commit more than 10% of our total fund for buying land. This means we have a total of £1.2M for buying land so we may have to limit what we can offer you.

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