How we chose
We started from the fifty-one valuation routes on show across Telford, from high-street agents to the Newport saleroom. Scheme memberships were sourced from the public redress register, the firms' own sites and platforms, with surveyor status checked against the professional register where one was claimed [3] [4] [5]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Ten firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score, then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated September 2026.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The bottom line
For most sellers and landlords, start with Belvoir Telford: sales, lettings and mortgage advice in one branch, redress on the public register, client money protection stated and tenant charges published as a full scale. Its sales fee only emerges at valuation, so ask for the rate and the VAT position in writing before you instruct anyone.
Match the branch to the job instead: Foden Property where every letting charge must be visible up front, Coleman Estates for a single Wellington office, Nick Tart for Ironbridge and the Gorge, and the Oakengates branch of DB Roberts for a managed letting. Brettells is the only call of the twelve for a saleroom valuation of antiques or effects.
Then invite two or three agents to value on the same written brief, check each name on the redress register, and agree the fee, the tie-in and the notice period before anyone measures a room.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.