Playing the Rating Game
Published on 9th Mar 2015
It is a busy month for rating surveyors. Recent government proposals mean that from 1 April 2015, refunds from successful business rates appeals will be limited to two years rather than seven – potentially restricting the benefit of a successful appeal by up to 70 percent. The pressure is on to get appeals in now, although there is still time for the government to change its mind, so we’ll keep an eye on this!
Meanwhile, the courts have sided with the Valuation Officer once again in another disappointing case for occupiers trying to mitigate their rates liability. The Court of Appeal considered what constitutes “repair” in the context of rating property for valuation purposes and upheld the longstanding principle that “the rateable quality of land is not to be determined by what is one was or what it may hereafter become”: it is the nature of the works that determines what constitutes repair, not the intention of the owner. In this case, the court found that the refurbishment works, which included reconfiguration of the property as 3 separate units, was merely repair. The consequences? The rateable value of the premises was £102,000 and not a nominal £1.
