A Guide to Commercial Property Valuations | Optimise CRE

Clarity. Confidence. Better Decisions.

A practical guide for commercial property owners and professional advisers who want to understand what a valuation really is, how to instruct one properly, and how to use it with confidence.

Why This Guide Exists

Commercial property valuations sit at the heart of many important decisions such as refinancing, acquisitions, disposals, lease negotiations, and strategic reviews.

Yet many owners (and advisers) are left feeling unsure:

Is this valuation realistic?
Have I instructed the right basis of value?
What assumptions are driving the figure?
Can I rely on this number?

This guide was written to remove that uncertainty.

It explains valuations in plain English; not to replace the valuer, but to help you brief, interpret, and use valuation advice properly.

Who This Guide Is For

This guide is designed for:

Commercial property owners and investors
Directors and trustees responsible for property decisions
Wealth managers, accountants and solicitors advising private clients
Anyone who needs to commission, review or rely on a commercial property valuation

Whether you’re instructing a valuation for the first time, or have received reports for years without fully understanding the mechanics behind them, this guide will help.

What You’ll Learn

Inside the guide, you’ll gain clarity on:

What the RICS Red Book is, and when it matters
When a Red Book valuation isn’t required
What exactly is being valued (and what isn’t)
The different bases of valuation explained simply
The assumptions and disregards that quietly shape value
What a valuation will not tell you
How to instruct a valuation correctly (with a practical template)
How to sense-check a draft report before it’s finalised
When (and how) to query a valuation professionally

This is not theory. It’s practical guidance drawn from real-world experience.

Why This Matters

A valuation is not just a number on a page.

It becomes the foundation for decisions involving risk, capital, and long-term strategy.

A valuation instructed poorly, misunderstood, or relied upon blindly can lead to:

unnecessary caution
misplaced confidence
delayed decisions
avoidable cost

Getting the instruction right, and understanding the output gives you control.

About The Author

Douglas Parker MRICS

I’m a Chartered Commercial Property Surveyor (MRICS) with a particular focus on asset management, lease strategy and valuation-related decision making.

I work with commercial property owners directly, and also alongside professional advisers acting for private clients, helping them make sense of valuations, lease events and the risks that sit beneath the numbers.

Over the years, I’ve seen valuations misunderstood, misused, or relied upon without enough clarity around their purpose, assumptions or limitations. This guide was written to address that, not to replace professional advice, but to help owners and advisers brief valuers properly, interpret reports with confidence, and make better decisions as a result.

This guide forms part of the Optimise CRE series: practical resources designed to improve the performance, resilience and value of commercial property assets.