Probate Valuation in Hove

homedata.co.uk records show that Brighton and Hove remains a market with a wide spread of values, and Hove’s probate cases often sit across that range. Flats and maisonettes averaged £293,000 in March 2026, while detached homes averaged £843,000, so the style of property can move the valuation sharply. A probate figure for a mansion flat off the seafront will need a very different evidence base from a semi-detached home in Tongdean. We look closely at that gap because the estate duty calculation follows the figure, not the property’s sentimental value.

New-build activity also changes how we compare homes in Hove. New Wave brings 33 private sale homes between Hove Park and Hove Station, One Hove Park includes 71 apartments overlooking Hove Park, and Aurum Hove Seafront adds 52 luxurious apartments with the majority offering underground parking. Argentum on Kingsway has 33 two and three-bedroom apartments, Kings House Hove Seafront provides 69 apartments, and the Sackville Trading Estate scheme is set to deliver 564 build-to-rent homes by Moda Living. Those schemes matter because a probate valuation needs the best local comparables, not a generic city-wide average.

The wider market picture is also shaped by who lives and works here. Brighton and Hove’s largest employment sector is public administration, education and health, accounting for over one-third of employees, and that supports steady local housing activity around central and coastal locations. Sales volumes can shift too, and homedata.co.uk shows 2,918 homes sold in 2023 compared with 4,339 the year before. That is the kind of change we account for when valuing a property near Hove Station, on Kingsway or close to the seafront.

The current inheritance tax thresholds are central to every probate valuation. The nil-rate band is £325,000 per person and it is frozen until April 2028, while the residence nil-rate band is £175,000 per person for properties passing to direct descendants. Transferable allowances for married couples and civil partners can increase the available threshold for the surviving estate, but the final position depends on the wider assets, liabilities and beneficiaries. Our valuers set the property figure with those rules in mind, because a home in Hove can move an estate from a simple return into a taxable one very quickly.

Property value often carries most of the tax risk. A flat in Brunswick Square, a house in Tongdean or a seafront apartment on Kingsway may push the estate above the available allowances when added to savings, investments and personal possessions. If the estate exceeds the thresholds, the tax due is calculated on the value above the allowance, and a precise probate figure is the starting point for that calculation. Executors also have to keep the paperwork ready for review, because HMRC can ask questions years later.

Good records make the difference in a difficult estate. We recommend keeping the Red Book valuation alongside the IHT forms, the death certificate and any notes on improvements, lease details or ownership shares. That is especially useful where the property sits in one of Hove’s older streets and the market evidence is less straightforward. Families often tell us that a clear report helps them move from uncertainty to the next task.

Hove has a large share of protected and older housing, and that changes how probate evidence has to be read. Brighton and Hove has 34 conservation areas covering over 18% of the urban area, and Hove includes Brunswick Town, Cliftonville, Denmark Villas, Hove Station, Old Hove, Pembroke & Princes, Sackville Gardens, The Avenues, The Drive, Tongdean and Willett Estate. The city also has 72 Grade II* listed buildings, with listed properties such as Hove Library, Hove railway station, St John the Baptist church and the Peace Statue all part of the local fabric. For probate, that often means a more careful check on condition, alterations and comparable sales.

Older homes can behave differently from newer stock, especially where conservation rules shape what can be altered. A probate valuation for a flat in Brunswick Place, a terrace in Adelaide Crescent or a home near Albany Villas should reflect the effect of the listing or conservation status on the open market, even if the interior has been modernised. We do not guess at that adjustment. Our valuers compare like with like, using evidence from the local market rather than assuming all Hove homes move together.

Flood risk also forms part of the local context, especially in a coastal urban area. Brighton and Hove is exposed to flooding from surface water, groundwater and the sea, while the coastline between Brighton Marina and the River Adur in Shoreham, which includes Hove, is defended by beaches, chalk cliffs, sea walls and timber groynes. Significant sea defence work is ongoing, including the replacement of old timber groynes and the addition of thousands of tonnes of shingle between the King Alfred Leisure Centre and Second Avenue in Hove, with erosion currently assessed as minor over the next 100 years. Those details matter because a probate valuation has to reflect the real market view of the property on the date of death.

From £250, our probate valuation service includes the inspection, the valuation analysis and the written report for probate and inheritance tax use. We set out the open market value at the date of death and explain the evidence behind it, so the executor has a document that can be filed with the estate records. That report is prepared in a clear format, not a sales brochure, and it is written for solicitors, HMRC and the personal representative who has to complete the paperwork. Where the property is in a conservation area or has a more complex title, we allow for the extra review work in the fee.

Turnaround is typically 5-7 working days from instruction, although the timetable can move if the estate includes several properties or if more title information is needed. Families dealing with a probate home in Brunswick Town, a seafront apartment on Kingsway or a house near Hove Park often want certainty quickly, and we keep the process straightforward from the first call to the final report. Our valuers work with care because the figures matter, but we also keep the explanation plain. That makes the next steps easier, whether the estate is going to probate, sale or transfer.