Established in 1989, SDL pioneered the panel management approach in surveying, which marked a move away from local branch managers valuing properties for mortgage purposes.
Today, SDL is the UK’s largest independent provider of mortgage valuations. It works with most major lenders in the UK, managing well in excess of 200,000 valuations per year.
SDL was also an early innovator in technology. In 2010, it was the first to introduce iPad technology to drive productivity, manage risk and improve service delivery for lenders. This innovation continued with the launch of its local desktop valuation product, which reduces the need for the surveyor to visit the property and allows a mortgage lending decision to be made within an hour. This significantly improves surveyor productivity, as well as providing a cost benefit for the lender.
SDL Surveying fulfils its valuation and survey requirements via a mixture of employed surveyors and an external nationwide network of local independent chartered surveying firms.
In addition to lender valuations, SDL Surveying also completes a range of home surveys directly on behalf of consumers. It offers two levels of buyer reports, in addition to independent valuations for probate, Help to Buy, and shared ownership purposes. The company’s service is rated ‘Excellent’ on both Trustpilot and Google.
SDL also works with two of the UK’s largest mortgage networks, in addition to multiple estate agency branches throughout the UK on a referral basis, ensuring exceptional customer service for their clients.
Our team
We share success with our people and back them to progress towards personal goals.
We work in partnership with our network firms and back them to grow their businesses.
We create a better future for our people by investing in their wellbeing and development.
We create a better future for consumers by progressing mortgage transactions efficiently.
We act with integrity towards our colleagues and do the right thing in difficult situations.
We always strive to give our customers the best advice and do the right thing by them.
We believe that a career in the surveying and financial services industry should be an attractive choice for all, irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding any acts of aggression, discrimination, or abuse. This policy applies throughout our offices and to any employee carrying out our business in any other location.
We’re passionate about giving something back to the community and those in need of our support. SDL Surveying employees engage in a range of exercise challenges and fundraising initiatives throughout the year. In FY22, the business raised a whopping £18.5k for charities close to its heart, including Mind, The Trussel Trust and LionHeart.
At SDL Surveying, we recognise the need to limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees as set out the Paris agreement. Our principal focus is therefore on our carbon dioxide emissions, which are measured and reported on annually in our audited accounts.
Our policy is to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Environmental objectives and initiatives are in place to reduce our overall carbon dioxide emissions by 15% per annum, even after the planned growth of our business. A programme of initiatives is in place to achieve this:
When reviewing your mortgage application, your lender may enlist the specialist advice of a RICS Valuer to help them decide how to fund the property you are buying, or remortgaging. At SDL Surveying, we are instructed to provide valuations for a range of national lending organisations.
