The single survey envisaged in the Communities Scotland consultation paper on the proposed reforms to the home buying and selling process in the residential market will not completely remove the need for mortgage lenders to conduct their own valuations to assess levels of lending risk, according to CML Scotland.

While many lenders will accept the valuation contained in the single survey, some cases will require lenders to conduct their own valuation, for example when the surveyor compiling the survey does not meet the criteria set by the lender. This point has previously been recognised by Communities Scotland but is not mentioned in the current consultation paper.

Kennedy Foster, CML Scotland, said: “We are disappointed that our concerns have not been addressed in the Communities Scotland consultation period. The introduction of the single survey is a massive change to the home buying and selling process in Scotland, and we believe more work is needed to ensure the new system is a success.

“It is also essential for Communities Scotland to ensure clarity in the business relationships between estate agents and surveyors. This will help give consumers and lenders confidence in the new system, and we are disappointed the consultation paper does not address this important concern.”