GP Surveyors achieved a huge increase for Meddygfa Abersoch near Pwllheli, North Wales, after we valued the surgery and thought they were being underfunded compared to other surgeries in the area, read this case study to see how.

The surgery in Abersoch was purpose built in the early 1970’s and underwent extensive moderisation alterations in 1993.

Meryl Williams is the Practice Manager at the surgery. She explains; “We first became aware of GP Surveyors after one of our doctors met someone from the company at an event a couple of years ago. We were then contacted by Jon, who was our assigned Client Manager, who told me he could get the value increased.”

“The increase we have received means there is more money coming into the practice”

Through GP Surveyors skilled negotiation we achieved a 34 per cent increase for the surgery, increasing the District Valuer’s offer from £9,000 to £12,100.

Meryl continues; “The increase we have received means there is more money coming into the practice. Other surgeries should challenge their figure from the District Valuer as it will help them increase their income.”

“Essentially this means that a positive precedent has been cemented in North Wales, which is great news for us and our clients”

Liam Loudon was the assigned Surveyor on the case. He explains; “We based the final unit rate on a comparable agreement on a surgery close-by which was also a modern purpose-built surgery. We also looked at other surgeries that GP Surveyors had previously agreed in other North Wales coastal locations.”

“The District Valuer gave consideration to the previous agreements and adjusted the unit rate for Meddygfa Abersoch. Essentially this means that a positive precedent has been cemented in North Wales, as we seem to be using all of our own previous agreements as the only evidence on which to base new decisions, which is excellent news for us and our clients.”

Our Meddygfa Abersoch case study illustrates what a difference double-checking your Notional Rent, with a specialist surveyor, can make. To book a Notional Rent review please contact us today and we will be happy to help.

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Pike View Medical Centre used GP Surveyors back in 2006 to negotiate a move from Cost Rent to Notional Rent. We have worked for them again on their 2009 review after the District Valuer reduced their Notional Rent figure. Read all about how we helped Pike View Medical Centre in their case study…

Pike View Medical Centre is a purpose-built surgery located in Horwich, Bolton. Dr Korlipara is the GP landlord for the Medical Centre. He explains; “The local District Valuer (DV) appointed by the local Health Authority (PCT) had not increased the Notional Rent on our Medical Centre since it was built in 1983 under the Cost Rent scheme.”

“I was getting frustrated why, for so many years, the rent had not been increased”

“In 2006 I was getting frustrated why, for so many years, the rent had not been increased. So in desperation I made enquiries as to where I could get help from and I found a local GP colleague who suggested GP Surveyors. They were absolutely brilliant. I was incredulous when I heard that at long last our Notional Rent was substantially increased from £28,260pa to £37,000pa (a 31 per cent increase). I was hoping for some increase in the rent after years of waiting, but I was unprepared for such a substantial increase.”

“By not challenging the District Valuer’s rent review, many Doctors lose out significantly on the gains they could have made”

Dr Korlipara continues; “The rent valuation carried out by the DV appointed by the local PCT, appears almost always biased in favour of the PCT rather than being fair to the Doctors who own the premises. Every GP in the UK should automatically appeal against the rent quoted by the DV with the help of GP Surveyors to act on the Doctors’ behalf. It does not cost the Doctors anything at all unless there is a successful appeal and an increase in the rent review. The Doctors lose absolutely nothing if the rent is not increased, and they only pay a proportion of their increase in rent if they win the case. By not challenging the DV’s rent review, many Doctors lose out significantly on the gains they could have made.”

David George was the assigned Surveyor on the latest rent review. He explains; “The 2009 figure was actually reduced by the DV by £500 to £36,500pa, however we began negotiations and were able to achieve an increase up to £41,000, equating to a 12 per cent increase on the District Valuer’s initial reduced offer.”

Dr Korlipara continues; “The increases we have received means that the Practice can continue providing comprehensive medical facilities under one roof and even consider extending the surgery to introduce new services for the benefit of the patients, with the approval of the local PCT. We can continue to modernise to meet patient expectations.”

“We can continue to modernise to meet patient expectations”

Dr Korlipara concludes; “I would strongly urge every GP who owns the practice premises to appeal against the rent assessed by the local District Valuer, before accepting the final figure. GP Surveyors know what they are doing and have their own Chartered Surveyors to challenge the figures arrived at by the DVs. Doctors lose nothing by challenging the decision and gain everything by this route.”

David George concludes; “GP Surveyors aim is to help Doctors get the Notional Rent they deserve for their surgery. We are able to do this because we have an excellent knowledge base allowing us to help Doctors throughout the country. Pike View Medical Centre is a typical case where we were able to get good increases at every review.

We hope you found our Pike View Medical Centre case study to be a useful read. To book a review of your Notional Rent please contact us today and we will be happy to help.

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Ardmore Medical Practice case study

Ardmore Medical Practice received a massive 78% increase in Notional Rent, above the District Valuer’s (DV) offer, after GP Surveyors challenged the figure on their behalf. 

Ardmore Medical Practice is located in Dungannon, County Tyrone. The surgery was receiving Cost Rent and contacted GP Surveyors to ascertain if it would be financially beneficial moving onto Notional Rent. The DVs’ initial Notional Rent figure was £17,280, following GP Surveyors’ successful negotiations the practices Notional Rent was raised to £30,800.

“Surgeries should challenge their valuation as they are entitled to this money”

Dr. McKay, Ardmore Medical Practice

Dr. John McKay from the Practice explains; “We first became aware of GP Surveyors after they sent us information about their services. After consideration, we decided to proceed as we couldn’t lose as there was no cost to the practice. The increase we received means we are financially better off and can invest the additional money into the practice”.

GP Surveyors Paul Colan explains; “This property has been converted from an office into a surgery. The building is located on the edge of Dungannon along the busy Thomas Street. It is a good quality property which is more akin to a purpose-built surgery.”

He continues; “Having inspected the property and all of the comparable surgeries in the local area it was clear to me that the Cost Rent was below the market rent for the property. Having given the DV our assessment of the Notional Rent it took sustained pressure for a revised offer to come through which was finally acceptable.”

Dr. McKay concludes; “Surgeries should challenge their valuation as they are entitled to this money. GP Surveyors have bought a professional and knowledge-based approach to GP rent reviews – we could not have done this alone.”

GP Surveyors hope you have found our Ardmore Medical Practice case study to be a useful resource – see our most recent case studies here.

Leigh View Medical Practice were both delighted and surprised when GP Surveyors achieved a great Notional Rent increase for them, read their case study to see how it was achieved.

Leigh View Medical Practice had already received a Notional Rent increase for their 2011 review due to a recent extension that was completed on the premises.

Therefore, they were both delighted and surprised when GP Surveyors achieved a further increase for them of 11%!

Victoria Allen, Practice Manager at Leigh View Medical Practice, said: “The building had recently had an extension – completed shortly before the date of the DV’s review.

“It really didn’t seem worth the time and energy to start discussions with an external firm when the DV valuation was clearly not going to be very far out.

“I shared my thoughts with Paul Hardman (Client Manager at GP Surveyors) about this, but he assured me that all we would need to do was allow their assessor to pop in and look around. I agreed to let the GP Surveyors assessor pop in, but didn’t expect we’d hear anything more from them as it would not be worth their while to put forward a case for us.”

“What a lovely surprise to have money given for a change – that doesn’t happen very often at all … Thanks Paul and Team, for such a lovely surprise and very good news – much appreciated!”

Following this assessment and GP Surveyor’s negotiations with the District Valuer, Ben Oldfield (the GP Surveyor assigned to the case) achieved a Notional Rent increase of 11% for the surgery leaving them with an additional £48,300 over the 3 year period.

Victoria said she was “amazed”! She continued: “Right up until we got our final phone call from Paul, I suspected it was going to be an insignificant change (if any at all) and not worth the time that had been invested by GP surveyors. We achieved around £16K per annum increase and, as our DV valuation was backdated to 2011, we received a big lump sum payment of three times that.

“All GPs are worrying about the financial impact of the contract changes on the partnership over the next few years.

This cash boost will help massively in keeping things steady over the next year whilst we get to grips with the new contract arrangements / potential budget cuts. What a lovely surprise to have money given for a change – that doesn’t happen very often at all.”

Victoria concludes by telling people why they should use GP Surveyors to assess their Notional Rent: “You don’t have to meet with them, you don’t have to explain how things work in your practice. They come in very briefly, know what they are doing and what to look for, and they are experts in arguing their case to the District Valuer. I also found their approach to be a pleasant easy going one, and they didn’t come across as pushing for business.
Minimal input from the practice, very surprising results and very happy partners!

“Thanks Paul and Team, for such a lovely surprise and very good news – much appreciated!”

Our Leigh View Medical Practice case study illustrates what a difference double-checking your Notional Rent, with a specialist surveyor, can make. To book a Notional Rent review please contact us today and we will be happy to help.

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GP Surveyors managed to obtain a fantastic Notional Rent increase above the District Valuer’s initial offer. Read Aintree Park Group Practice s case study to find out how we achieved such a boost in the practices income.

The Aintree Park Group Practice is situated on two sites in Liverpool; one in Orrell Park and the other in Aintree, and has a patient list size of 12,700.

The Practice had been on Cost Rent and had never been provided a Notional Rent figure. GP Surveyors were instructed to see if the Notional Rent figure might have exceeded the Cost Rent.

John Lawes in the Practice Manager explains; “We felt that there was scope for an improvement and GP Surveyors were obviously experienced in this area. Having spoken initially to our Client Manager Mark it was apparent that they felt the same and at the end of the day we had nothing to lose.”

Paul Conlan, Managing Chartered Surveyor at GP Surveyors who was the assigned Surveyor in this case explains; “The Cost Rent Scheme is no longer used. It previously existed for new extended or refurbished surgeries. However, many surgeries still remain on this scheme, as this is how they have been historically reimbursed and have never swapped to Notional Rent.”

“When the 3 year review falls, it is essential to have premises valued under the Notional Rent basis”

It is normally the case that surgeries which are under the Cost Rent Scheme will initially in the first few years receive a higher level of reimbursement than if they were on Notional Rent.

However, in order to ensure that the Doctors equity is maximised, then when the 3-yearly review falls, it is essential to have the premises valued under the Notional Rent basis. Comparison can then be made as to whether the practice would be better off on the alternative scheme as opposed to the Cost Rent Scheme.

After looking at the case GP Surveyors confirmed that we felt that the Notional Rent figure would now exceed Cost Rent and we wrote a letter to PCT requesting a Notional Rent figure for the Practice.

The local PCT instructed the District Valuer (DV) to provide a Notional Rent figure to them and upon receipt of the DV’s Report, a figure was offered to the Practice which after consideration they decided to reject.

“The whole process was smooth and painless and required very little of my time”

The PCT instructed the District Valuer to discuss and negotiate with GP Surveyors, where we were able to subsequently attain several thousand pounds more than the PCT’s offer which equated to a 21 per cent increase on the original figure.

John Lawes concludes; “Any additional income to the Practice is welcome. It gives us opportunities for improving patient care and to invest in the upkeep of our building. Other GP surgeries should challenge their DV valuation because it is potential additional income which is much needed given current economic climate. The whole process was smooth and painless and required very little of my time.”

We hope you found our Aintree Park Group Practice case study to be useful. To book a review of your Notional Rent please contact us today and we will be happy to help.

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GP Surveyors represented Pear Tree Surgery to achieve large increases at both their Main and Branch sites, at the branch surgery a 76 percent increase was achieved, read their case study to see how our surveyors achieved such a result.

GP Surveyors has worked for a number of practices in Warwickshire and have managed to achieve an average increase of 27 percent in the level of rent reimbursement Doctors receive, which is well above our national average of 15 percent which we have achieved working for our 1500+ clients across the UK.

One practice that has received a significant increase in their Notional Rent is the Pear Tree Surgery, a 5 partner, semi-rural practice in North Warwickshire which provides full general medical services to a list of approximately 10,500 patients.

“Our GPs at the practice thought it was worth looking into and when it was discovered no cash had to change hands before results we decided it was worth a go”

It has two sites; Kingsbury Surgery in Tamworth and Hurley Surgery in Atherstone. Amanda Byrne, Practice Manager across the two sites explains; “We first became aware of GP Surveyors after receiving some advertising information which was sent to us by post. Our GPs at the practice thought it was worth looking into and when it was discovered no cash had to change hands before results we decided it was worth a go.”

Through GP Surveyors skilled negotiation we were able to achieve an increase of nearly £18,000 above the District Valuer’s offer on the Kingsbury Surgery equating to a 50 percent increase. On the Hurley Surgery, we managed to achieve an even greater increase of 76 percent above the District Valuer’s offer taking their annual rent from £6,750 to £11,900.

Amanda continues; “All of the staff at GP Surveyors were very friendly and helpful throughout the whole process.”

“Our case showed the valuation was worthwhile and we would certainly recommend anyone to use GP Surveyors. The additional reimbursement we have received can now be ploughed back in to practice for practical use.”

Andy Churchill, the assigned surveyor on this case says; “With a proven track record of successfully increasing the District Valuer’s notified figures in Warwickshire we feel that we are ideally placed to provide a high quality service to Doctors in this location.”

Our Pear Tree Surgery case study illustrates what a difference double-checking your Notional Rent, with a specialist surveyor, can make. To book a Notional Rent review please contact us today and we will be happy to help.

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Paula Davies, Business Manager at High Street Surgery, Rawmarsh confirms the importance of seeking expert advice and practical specialist support when challenging a surgeries notional rent reimbursement.

High Street Surgery is a purpose build property located in Rawmarsh, South Yorkshire. Paula Davies is the Business Manager for both High Street and Morthen Practice, their branch surgery. She explains,

“We first heard about GP Surveyors as they had maintained regular informal telephone contact with the practice, but without any pressure. The practice had previously used GP Surveyors 3 years ago and had a successful outcome, so it was without hesitation to use their services again.

Whilst GPs, Practice & Business Managers become experts in their field, premises valuation is beyond the remit of most. We acknowledged the advantage and importance of calling upon expert advice. There really is nothing to lose, no increase = no fee service.”

Paula continues,

“The staff at GP Surveyors are very helpful and proficient, explaining the process, time constraints and fees involved. They were successful is securing a very welcomed 3% increase which was backdated to the original valuation date. This means that we will now benefit from year 2 and 3 incremental financial gain and will improve the surgeries capital value.

High Street Surgery would definitely recommend GP Surveyors to any practice. We have used them for the past 6 years and achieved successful outcomes each time, which in turn has turned into thousands to reinvest into the practice.”

 When is your notional rent due? Act now! Contact GP Surveyors!

GP Surveyors are an established firm of chartered surveyors and have over 19 years of specialist primary care sector experience, having worked with over 2,500 surgeries nationwide.

The basis of a notional rent valuation is defined within the Premises Cost Directions 2013, our team of experts, some of which are ex district valuers have intimate knowledge of the process and procedures.

Our extensive, national database of comparable evidence enables us to draw upon relevant data for premises in your location, with a similar profile, ensuring we deliver the best outcome for your practice.

Contact us now to ensure you’re not losing out on valuable Notional Rent income like this Rawmarsh practice was.

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