Rental valuations

Where the constituency office is to be rented from a political party or constituency association, IPSA will arrange for a valuation of the market rate for the contract prepared by a valuer regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The rent claimed on the office must not exceed the market rate. [6.22]

IPSA will also arrange for a valuation where an MP sublets or grants a licence in respect of the constituency office, or part of it, to a political party or constituency association, or to a connected party.

The rent or fee charged must not fall below the market rate. [6.23]

IPSA reserves the right to seek a valuation to confirm the market rental rate for an office in any other circumstances where it considers it appropriate. [6.24]

From 1 April 2022, the provision of a RICS valuation is no longer a requirement when registering a property with IPSA.

Property registrations will go ahead without the need for a RICS valuation.

We will organise and pay for RICS valuations for applicable sampled properties with a valid executed agreement, once a tenancy has begun as part of our regulatory checks.

We have contracted CBRE Ltd to provide rental valuations and will fund any valuations from the Contingency Budget. We will only use valuations from IPSA-instructed surveyors. The cost of these valuations will not come from the MP’s office budget.

The Scheme has been amended to reflect the new arrangements.

For more information, visit Renting from political party organisations.

When selecting a property to be valued we consider several criteria, including:

• Who is the landlord?

• Who is the subtenant?

• Is the property being shared?

• Has the rent increased, and by how much?

• When was the last valuation performed?

When we decide to organise a RICS valuation we will contact the MP with an introductory email to our chosen surveyor.

The surveyor will arrange a time and date for access to the property with the MP or their office.

We provide the lease agreement to the surveyor, so they know exactly what services, area(s) and property to value.

The completed valuation will be reviewed and we will be in contact if required.

Details of the valuation are available upon request.

IPSA-instructed surveyors will not provide:

• property condition reports including structural surveys

• dilapidation and insurance surveys

• pre-agreement rent or rent renewal valuations

If these are required for your constituency office MPs can claim the costs of their own surveyor from their Office Costs Budget.

Claims for these costs are not available from the accommodation budget.

MPs should always ensure a fully qualified surveyor is used – such as a RICS Member (MRICS) or RICS Fellow (FRICS).

Please note, a fully qualified chartered surveyor does not include an Associated member (AssocRICS) or non-RICS surveyor.

MPs should always seek the best value for money – if they can negotiate a cheaper rent than the market rent, they should do so. A rental valuation may help inform those negotiations but is not obligatory.

An MP wants a rental valuation survey – will IPSA pay for this?

The MP should instruct their own surveyor and can claim the cost of the surveyor from their relevant budget.

IPSA wants a rental valuation survey – will IPSA pay for this?

We will instruct CBRE and pay for the valuation.

It will not come from an MP’s budget.

Why will IPSA not pay for a rental valuation survey if an MP requests one?

1. A valuation is no longer required to register a property.

2. MPs should seek value for money in all aspects of their business costs, including rent. MPs may choose to get a market valuation to help achieve value for money in any rent negotiations – MPs can also contact local property agents, conduct online research with portals such as Rightmove or Zoopla, and ask existing or neighbouring tenants.

3. MPs may want additional surveyor services such as a condition report on the property. This is not covered in IPSA’s contract with the provider.

4. Due to the number of instructions and contract terms, we are unable to guarantee that a survey would be completed within any required timeframes, such as before a lease is signed, starts, or is renewed.

5. The valuations we receive are for the limit (minimum or maximum) that we should fund and will be based on the specifics of the lease.

An MP wants to ensure they are achieving value for money and avoid paying above-market rent – will IPSA pay for the rental valuation survey?

If an office wants to be sure they are not paying over the market rent, the office is free to organise their own surveyor – this is similar to arranging their own solicitor to look over the lease terms to avoid future exposure or risk.

They can claim for these costs to be reimbursed from the Office Costs budget.

Like legal advice, we want to ensure MPs are not paying over-the-market rent or have an illegal or risky lease.

We instruct our own solicitors, and we will instruct our own surveyors.

These costs do not come from the MPs’ Office Costs budgets.

What happens if the rent an MP is paying/receiving does not match the valuation from IPSA’s provider?

We will be in contact should there be any discrepancy between the rent being paid and the valuation from our provider.

Depending on the size of the discrepancy the action could range from an advisory note to limitations on what rent we are able to pay.

In exceptional circumstances, we may need to put an immediate hold on payments while we investigate further, but in all circumstances, we will inform you of the situation and actions to be taken.

We have produced a checklist that should be used when providing evidence to IPSA in support of your property registrations.

This checklist is available as a PDF download.

Read more about Completing a Property Registration Form.