What does the job involve day to day?
You inspect a property, research comparable sales, rents and market evidence, form an opinion of value and write a report the client can rely on. The National Careers Service lists estimating the market value of land, buildings and commercial property, writing detailed reports, business and insurance valuations, investment appraisals and support in property disputes. You split your time between site visits, the office and travel. Some valuers also run auctions.
Residential valuers spend most of their time on homes, often for mortgage lenders. Commercial valuers handle offices, shops, industrial units and investment portfolios, where income and lease terms drive the figure. Tax work covers Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax, Stamp Duty Land Tax and the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings, all of which have their own guidance in the Red Book UK supplement. Compulsory purchase and social housing loan security are further specialisms.
What does the Valuation Office Agency do?
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is an executive agency of HM Revenue & Customs. It keeps the Council Tax bands for 26.8 million homes and the rateable values of 2.1 million commercial properties in England and Wales. It also sets Right to Buy values, decides Community Infrastructure Levy appeals and advises public bodies on compulsory purchase and asset valuations.
The VOA employs more than 3,800 staff and describes itself as one of the biggest employers of chartered surveyors in the UK. It runs surveying apprenticeships, a graduate valuation programme and placement years. For someone who wants structured training and steady rating or tax work rather than lender instructions, it is a serious alternative to private practice.
The Red Book and who can sign a valuation
RICS Valuation – Global Standards, known as the Red Book, sets the mandatory rules for RICS members who value. The current global edition took effect on 31 January 2025. A UK national supplement, in force since 1 May 2024, adds UK rules, including extra governance and valuer rotation for regulated purpose valuations. Secured lending is not a regulated purpose, so the advisory rotation of valuers at intervals of no more than seven years applies there.
RICS says the signature of a Registered Valuer confirms the report complies with the Red Book, and the signer carries full professional responsibility for it. Signing reports for unregistered colleagues as a formality is not acceptable. Some work sits outside the Red Book: valuation advice given as part of agency or brokerage, advice for negotiations or litigation, expert witness work, statutory functions and purely internal valuations.
Why pay figures for valuers vary so much
Official statistics do not count valuers as one group. The ONS occupation classification places valuers in a unit group called estimators, valuers and assessors, which also includes cost estimators and insurance assessors. Chartered valuers are usually coded as chartered surveyors, unit group 2454. A pay figure for one group can therefore look very different from the other.
Our figures below use the valuation category. The National Careers Service gives a range of £25,000 for starters to £50,000 for experienced valuers. Chartered status, commercial specialism and London work push pay towards the top of the range. A valuer working only on residential lending outside the South East will usually sit nearer the middle.
Pay
GBP a year, before tax. Ranges show the 25th to 75th percentile from ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, April 2026 (provisional), moved to the current year with a wage index; regional figures are modelled, not official. Chartered status, commercial or investment work and location move pay most. Refer to the Valuation salary guide for figures from live adverts.
What you need
- Accredited degree or apprenticeshipMost valuers hold a RICS-accredited degree such as real estate management or property development and valuation. Graduates in other subjects can take an accredited postgraduate course.
- Degree apprenticeship entryThe Chartered Surveyor Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship has a property option. Entry usually needs 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 plus A levels or equivalent.
- Valuation competencyTo register as a valuer, chartered surveyors must have passed 'Valuation' or 'Valuation of Businesses and Intangible Assets' to Level 3 at final assessment. Associate members must have passed the 'Valuation' competency.
- Valuer Registration SchemeRICS members doing valuations must join unless all their work falls under the Red Book exceptions. Members renew every year, pay a fee, submit a regulatory return and accept risk-based audits.
- Valuer Registration AssessmentMembers who did not cover the required valuation competency when they qualified can take this assessment to become eligible.
- Red Book complianceEvery valuation by a RICS member must meet the Red Book unless it falls within a PS1 section 5 exception.
How to get there
- Years 1-5Start study or an apprenticeshipTake a RICS-accredited degree, or join the Level 6 Chartered Surveyor degree apprenticeship with the property option. Employers including the VOA offer apprenticeships and graduate schemes.
- Years 1-5Build valuation experienceInspect properties, gather comparables and draft reports under a Registered Valuer who checks and signs your work.
- Around year 5Qualify with RICSPass the assessment for chartered or associate membership, covering the Valuation competency at the level the scheme requires.
- On qualifyingJoin Valuer RegistrationApply through your RICS account, using a sponsorship code if your firm provides one. You can then sign Red Book reports and use the RICS Registered Valuer designation.
- Year 6 onwardsSpecialise or progressMove into commercial, tax, compulsory purchase or business asset valuation, or progress to partner or freelance consultant.
Open now on PropertyRoles.uk
Questions people ask
Do you have to be chartered to value property?
To sign Red Book valuations as a RICS Registered Valuer you need either chartered membership with a Level 3 valuation competency, or associate membership with the Valuation competency. Associate members are therefore eligible. Agency valuation advice given as part of selling or letting falls outside the Red Book.
Is a mortgage valuation a regulated purpose valuation?
No. Under the Red Book UK supplement, secured lending is not a regulated purpose valuation, so the mandatory rotation rules in UK VPS 3 do not apply. The general Red Book governance rules still do, along with advisory rotation of valuers at intervals of no more than seven years.
Can one Registered Valuer sign reports for a whole team?
RICS says the signer carries full professional responsibility for every report bearing their signature. The signature confirms Red Book compliance and must not be a rubber stamp. Firms are expected to have real oversight behind it.
Who sets Council Tax bands and business rates values?
In England and Wales the Valuation Office Agency does. It is an executive agency of HM Revenue & Customs and keeps the Council Tax bands and the rateable values for business rates.
How long does it take to qualify?
The Chartered Surveyor Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship takes around five years. It combines paid work with a RICS-accredited degree or postgraduate course at an approved university.
Sources
- RICS: Valuer registration
- RICS: Valuer Registration frequently asked questions
- RICS: Red Book
- RICS: Red Book UK National Supplement
- GOV.UK: About the Valuation Office Agency
- GOV.UK: Working for VOA
- National Careers Service: Land and property valuer and auctioneer
- Skills England Occupational Maps: Chartered surveyor (property)
- GOV.UK: Temporary Shortage List stage 1 report
