Valuation Expert Witness

Gilmartin Ley's professional practice includes three RICS Registered Valuers with 100 combined years of post-qualification experience: Michael Gilmartin FRICS (qualified 1972), Joe Salmon MRICS (qualified 1991) and James Gilmartin MRICS (qualified 2000). The valuation department provides valuation advice on all aspects of residential and commercial property for private individuals, charities, companies, and pension funds.

The advice we provide is based on extensive experience and an in-depth knowledge of market conditions and trends. Our knowledge is informed by the market exposure of, and transactions carried out by, our Agency and Investment & Development departments.

We provide valuation advice on a variety of properties from a single London apartment to school buildings to a portfolio of industrial buildings in the Home Counties.

Our professional indemnity insurance cover is presently £2 million on an each and every claim basis.

We provide capital and rental valuations for a variety of purposes, including:

Pre-acquisition advice
Charities Act compliance
Inheritance Tax
Capital Gains Tax
Pension fund compliance
Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings
Litigation including matrimonial disputes
Expert witness reports in accordance with CPR Part 35 requirements
Company accounts
Internal company purposes
Leasehold enfranchisement
Market Valuations in accordance with the RICS Red Book (RICS Valuation - Global Standards)
Cases of encroachment by an adjoining owner

We provide litigation support to firms of solicitors specialising in this field. We have experience of providing valuation evidence to tribunals (including the Courts) including giving evidence in person at the tribunal concerned, and negotiations with other expert witnesses.

Examples of tribunals we have prepared evidence for include various County Courts, the Magistrates' Court, the First-tier tribunal - Property Chamber (Residential Property), and the Lands Tribunal.

Our clients commonly request expert witness reports in the case of matrimonial disputes. If the dispute is at an early stage, and a Court has not made an order for a valuation report to be procured, we are also able to provide (at a lower cost) expert reports for the purpose of the two parties two parties trying to reach an agreement. Such reports can be upgraded at a later date to expert witness reports (which the Court can rely on) if necessary.

All three of our RICS Registered Valuers have acted as Single Joint Expert.

Other situations where our clients require expert witness reports include the following:

A house having been converted without planning permission to flats where an enforcement notice has been served - we have provided valuation advice in respect of the leasehold and freehold interests before and after the enforcement notice has been complied with.
A flat which has been extended without the freeholder's permission where this was required.
Residential and commercial properties where a lender believes that there may be a case of negligence on the part of the original valuer - we advise both in respect of more straightforward valuations of 'standing properties' (and portfolios of these) and in respect of development sites.
Section 18 cases in respect of a claim for dilapidations, where the two parties are in dispute as to whether the value of the property in repair is any greater than the value of the property in its existing condition.
Retrospective valuations - these are most frequently required when a case of valuation negligence is being considered in respect of a loan security valuation.
Disputes over the Council Tax banding of a property.
Commercial property rent review and lease renewal (the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954) disputes.
Compulsory purchase, including complex development valuation cases.
Lease extensions and collective enfranchisement of residential property under the Leasehold Reform and Urban Development Act 1993 and The Leasehold Reform Act 1967, when terms are unable to be agreed by negotiation, although we are able to agree the vast majority of cases to avoid the costs of a tribunal.

Where expert witness valuation evidence is required, this is provided in compliance with Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) 1998 including the Protocol for the Instruction of Experts to give Evidence in Civil Claims. The expert witness valuation reports we provide also comply with the requirements of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), as set down in 'Surveyors acting as Expert Witnesses RICS Practice Statement' (3rd edition). A copy of this is available on request.

Contact:

Joe Salmon, Director - Valuation & Professional

tel.: 020 8920 9941 comms@gilmartinley.co.uk

James Gilmartin, Managing Director

tel.: 020 8920 9944 comms@gilmartinley.co.uk