Bath Building Society has launched a new property decisioning engine aimed at cutting delays in the mortgage valuation process for brokers and borrowers.
The mutual said the system, developed with Legal & General Surveying Services, is designed to make property valuations faster and more straightforward by using a mix of proprietary and third-party data alongside Bath’s own lending criteria.
The engine is used to assess whether a property can be approved for lending quickly or whether it needs a physical inspection, with certified surveyors overseeing the outputs.
Bath said the change should reduce the number of follow-up queries that have historically added time to the valuation process and created uncertainty for borrowers and intermediaries.
The society added that the new approach allows valuations to be instructed earlier in the mortgage journey and means most of its mortgage valuations will now be free of charge.
Kyle Greck (pictured), head of mortgage sales at Bath Building Society, said: “We understand how frustrating valuation delays can be for customers and brokers. This new property decision engine speeds up the process and helps us provide answers sooner, which can make a real difference during a property purchase.
“Importantly, it allows us to instruct the valuation earlier in the process and means that most of our mortgage valuations will now be free of charge, offering even better value for our customers and brokers.”
Paula Matthews, of Legal & General Surveying Services, added: “We are very pleased to be partnering with Bath Building Society to roll out our property decisioning engine into the mutual sector.
“By combining our extensive proprietary data and surveyor expertise with Bath’s lending criteria, we have created a smarter, faster valuation process that will significantly reduce delays and uncertainty for customers and brokers.
“This solution allows certified surveyors to focus their time where it adds most value, while delivering quicker, more reliable decisions. We believe it sets a new standard for efficiency in mortgage valuations without compromising on quality or rigour.”
