How to hire
Start by matching the valuer to the reason you need a figure. A high-street agent's market appraisal tells you what your home might fetch and is usually free, because the agent hopes to win the sale. A formal valuation is a different product: a liability-backed opinion of value from a registered surveyor, written for probate, divorce, tax, staircasing or court use [2] [8]. And if the value sits in a painting rather than a property, you want a saleroom valuer with an auction behind it. When you first enquire, say how many rooms and what outdoor space you have, whether the property is freehold or leasehold, and what the figure is for.
There is no mandatory register for estate agents or valuers, so the checks that matter are voluntary ones done properly. Every sales and lettings agent must belong to an approved redress scheme, and any agent handling rent or deposits must hold client money protection [3] [4]. For a formal valuation, look for a surveyor registered with the professional body, whose members work to a common home survey standard [2] [5]. Ask for cover details on any instruction, since none of the firms in this round publish them.
Check memberships yourself rather than taking a logo at face value. Type the business name into the search on The Property Ombudsman website and confirm the listing matches the firm you are hiring [3]. Use the Propertymark find-an-expert search, which lists valuation as a service in its own right, to confirm certified agents and client money protection [4]. For a surveyor, search the professional body's member database by name and town [5]. Then look the operator company up on Companies House and confirm it is active [6]. If a membership cannot be found anywhere, ask the firm why before you go further.
Telford adds a few local twists. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including Wellington and the Severn Gorge, and the Gorge carries a further planning direction as a World Heritage Site, so period homes there face tighter consent rules for a valuation to reflect [10]. Tree works in a conservation area need six weeks' notice [10]. The borough blends the old market town of Wellington, former townships such as Dawley and Madeley, and newer estates such as Lawley, so comparable evidence shifts from street to street [14]. Where viewings draw buyers into the Gorge, Ironbridge runs its own resident and visitor parking permits across the council car parks [13].
Get two or three written valuations on the same brief and compare the reasoning, not just the top figure: recent comparable sales, time on market, and what needs doing before photographs. Each agency agreement should state the commission rate, whether VAT is included, the type of agency, the tie-in and notice periods, and what counts as an introduction that earns the fee [1]. Published guidance puts the typical sole-agency fee below two per cent including VAT, with multi-agency terms well above it [1]. Treat an outlier valuation, far above the rest, as a question about evidence rather than good news.
A typical instruction runs the same course whatever the job. First contact and a booked visit come first, with the valuer walking every room and noting condition, improvements and the comparable streets behind the figure. The written agreement or report lands next: read the fee, the VAT line, the tie-in and the notice period before anything is signed [1]. Marketing starts once the energy certificate is ordered [7], viewings follow on an agreed schedule, and the job closes when the agreement, the report, the certificate and every invoice sit in one file.
If you are letting, separate the tenant-find charge from full management with its monthly rate, and ask what sits outside both: inventories, inspections, deposit registration, renewals and empty-property visits. Some Telford agents publish the whole scale with VAT and some quote only at valuation, so ask for the full list in writing either way. Marketing extras such as photography, floor plans and portal listings should be named as included or charged, and confirm who holds the deposit and under which protection [4].
Before marketing starts you must have an energy certificate ordered: the seller or landlord commissions it, it is valid for a decade, and you can be fined without one [7]. Keep the agency agreement, the valuation or survey report, the certificate, and every quote and invoice together — you will need them at sale, re-let or probate. If anything in the figure or the fee is unclear, pause and ask for it in writing before the board goes up. A written quote should name the commission or fixed fee, the VAT position, the agency type, the tie-in and notice periods, and what counts as an introduction that earns the fee [1]. At the end, letting paperwork should name the deposit scheme holding the money, since deposits must sit in a government-backed scheme within a month of receipt [12].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, selling commission is the largest cost most readers will face. National guidance puts the average sole-agency fee at around one and a half per cent including VAT, with typical sole-agency terms running from just over one to below two per cent and multi-agency terms roughly double that [1]. On a Telford sale that percentage dwarfs every other fee on the page, which is why the agency agreement matters more than the headline valuation.
A formal written valuation costs far less. A standard independent valuation for buying, selling or legal purposes typically runs to a few hundred pounds, with probate and inheritance-tax valuations a little higher and lease-extension work higher still [8]. Midlands fees sit around the national average, below London and the South East [8]. A market appraisal from an agent hoping to win your sale is usually free, which is exactly why it carries no liability if the figure proves wrong.
What moves the price is scope and complexity: the sale price itself for commission, the property's value and quirks for a surveyor, and whether you want tenant-find only or full management for a letting [8]. Agree whether marketing extras, accompanied viewings and auction entry fees sit inside the fee or on top of it. A probate valuation for tax purposes needs more formality than a sale appraisal, and the fee reflects that.
Ask whether every figure includes VAT, charged at a fifth on top wherever it does not: the industry code says advertised fees must be shown inclusive of VAT with a statement to that effect [1]. Get the fee, the VAT position, the tie-in and what the valuation is valid for in writing before you sign, and keep the paperwork with the sale file.
Letting work divides into tenant-find and full management, and the law caps what tenants themselves can be asked: the holding deposit is limited to a single week's rent and tenancy deposits to five or six weeks depending on the annual rent [11]. Published landlord scales here run from a set-up fee with a monthly management rate plus named extras: compare extras line by line, not the headline rate. Marketing extras, inventories, inspections and renewals should each be named as included or charged.
Saleroom valuations are a smaller job with their own maths: commission on the hammer price, any entry or illustration fee, and what is owed if a lot fails to sell. None of the saleroom detail in this round is published, so settle the reserve, the commission and the entry fee on paper before anything goes under the hammer.
Red flags
Values your home for sale without stepping inside or seeing every floor in photographs or on video.
Cannot be found when you search the business name on the redress scheme register [3].
Quotes commission with no statement of whether VAT is included [1].
Asks you to sign a sole-selling-rights agreement without explaining the tie-in and notice period.
Prices far above every other valuation with no recent comparable sales to support the figure.
Offers a formal valuation for probate, tax or court use without a registered surveyor behind it [5].
Starts marketing your home before the energy certificate is ordered [7].
Will not put the fee, the VAT position and the valuation figure in writing before the board goes up.
Prices letting work without naming which deposit scheme will hold the tenant's money [12].
Values a home inside a conservation area with no mention of the extra consent rules that apply there [10].