LOCAL TAX Flashcards
What do you mean by “independently” dealt with 2017 Rating Appeals in England and Wales?
My responsibility includes reviewing evidence, inspecting the properties, and negotiating a settlement within the statutory deadline.
How do you sense check valuations?
Compare with market evidence, review methodology, seek assurance.
Rating in Wales v England. What are the differences?
Local Government Finance Act 1988.
ENG: CCA.
WALES: PROPOSAL, NEGOTIATION, APPEALS.
What VSF did you consider for the retail unit in Harrow.
Location, Size, Public Layout, Shape.
Talk me through Lotus & Delta.
6 steps.
Subject rent.
Weighting of subject rent.
Comparable evidence.
Assessment evidence.
Stand back and look.
If no useful evidence, go back to subject.
Can the tone of the list ever be established?
Futures London v Stratford.
Tone is established through settlements, and substantial number of agreements, and/or the tone not being Challenged.
How do you value A/C for retail?
Dorothy Perkins Retail Ltd v Casey
Berry v Iceland Foods Ltd
£7/m2 for shops & £4/m2 for warehouses is rule of thumb to be used in a sense of anything better.
£7/m2 is based on a cost analysis of cassette installations.
Is there case law for office fit out?
Bunyan v Acenden 2023
Office fitout case - office headquarters in Maidenhead, LL and tenant both spent to fit-out.
determined that a tenants fit out is rateable, establishing that Amortising the costs is an appropriate way to determine additional value to the Cat A (unfitted) rent, IF there’s no rental evidence of fitted premises.
Monk v Newbigin
90s office in Sunderland.
Scheme of works to be assessed at MD.
If works are assessed as redevelopment, no need to ask the prior question because the building is incapable of beneficial occupation.
Not a hereditament and the VOA deleted from the list.
For monk to apply, the whole hereditament must be rateable not just part.
Jackson v Canary Wharf
Office in CW.
“Does Monk apply when a hereditament has been stripped back and there is no planned world to re-fit?”
The absence of a detailed programme of works does not mean monk does not apply.
What about if part was being redeveloped?
Aviva v Bunyan.
Consideration can be given to taking part of the hereditament out of assessment if that part is incapable of beneficial occupation (however this action would be outside the scope of the proposal to delete the whole assessment and would need time be undertaken by a VO notice).
Weddings v Robert’s.
At what date was the property rendered incapable of beneficial occupation as a result of works?
Prior “economic” question. What case law?
Benjamin v Robinson.
(i) whether the ‘damage’ that has occurred is indicative of a scheme of reconstruction (which includes significant refurbishm ent/refitting in addition to complete demolition and
new building), and, if so,
(ii) has that damage rendered the hereditament incapable of beneficial occupation?
What are the steps to the economic test?
- Identify the hereditament.
- Value the hereditament in its current state at AVD.
- Value the hereditament in an assumed state of reasonable repair at AVD.
- Cost up works at AVD.
- Determine how many years a hypothetical landlord would be willing to spread the reasonable repair cost over before he gets return on investment.
Anticipated costs more than rent = uneconomic.
When would you consider repair to be uneconomic?
Princess Street.
The question of whether repairs would be economic is a comparison of likely future rental income flow against the cost of repairs.
When should the hereditament be deleted?
Where there is a scheme of works, the date at which beneficial occupation ceases is the date it is ceased to be a hereditament.
What is the scheme of works?
When the property comes:
- significantly improved.
- different unit of assessment.
- different mode of category.
where there is no scheme of works, consider repair.
When is a property not in beneficial occupation?
Consider what is require for beneficial occupation.
E.g. stripped out lighting, electrics, plumbing.
What if there is a scheme of works to a substantial part?
May consider reconstruction of the assessment to remove that part that is no longer a hereditament.
May consider giving the new hereditament not subject to works an allowance if disturbed by the part that is undergoing works as an external MCC.
What if there is a scheme of works to a minor part?
Refer the ratepayer to BA for s44A - £0 values the part not used for a period of time.
What is a completion notice?
A copy of the Completion Notice will be sent to the owner by the BA with a copy also sent to VOA who will determine the RV.
What are the changes to Completion Notices?
Rating Act 2023.
BAs can now legally serve completion notices on stripped back properties where no structural alterations had taken place.
What is improvement relief?
Encourages business’ to invest in their premises by offering 12 months relief from increased rates due to qualifying improvements.
To qualify:
- Improvements must increase the RV.
- The property must remain occupied.
Examples:
- adding insulation.
- building an extension.
- converting storage areas.
What case law refers to ABET?
Actual – R v Assessment Committee of St Pancras (1877)
Beneficial – Newbigin v SJ & J Monk (2015)
Exclusive – Southern Railway and WHSmith v Westminster City Council (1936)
Transient – Wilkins (VO) v London County Council (1957)
What if the supported statement was a generic statement?
Not valid.
As specified in Regulation 6 [Reg 11 in Wales] a complete proposal includes the following, at sub-para (4)(f) and (g):
(f) evidence to support the grounds of the proposal; and
(g) a statement as to how the evidence supports the grounds of the proposal.”
What is the Lotus and Delta case?
Retail shop in Leicester, considered the 6 proportions for rental evidence.
Can you tell me what else would make a Challenge incomplete?
The mandatory requirements for a complete proposal in England are set out in Regulation 6(4) of the 2009 Appeal Regulations (SI 2009/2268) as amended.
- The name, address and contact details.
- Grounds of the proposal
- An alternative rating list entry including a valuation.
- An effective date.
- Supporting evidence.
- A statement on how the evidence supports the grounds of the proposal.
- The rent.
- Date the rent first became payable.
- Any rent free period.
What part of the Regs did you apply for your notice of refusal? (Reg 8). Did you have any discretion in this matter?
Non-Domestic Rating Regulations 2007.
S8 of the Regs specifies how to apply the notice of refusal, you typically do not have discretion in this matter, if the proposal is incomplete or does not comply with the requirements set out in Reg 8, you are obligated to refuse it.
How long did the IP have to resubmit their proposal? What if it were an external MCC proposal?
4 months from the Check submission date.
Check submitted - 18 July 2022.
Check decision - 25 July 2022.
Challenge submitted - 25 August 2022.
Deadline - 2 months and 24 days.
What case law did you refer to when determining the correct unit of hereditament? What would you do if this was a serviced office and the 2 tenants occupied by way of licences?
I referred to the Woolway v Mazars case law. It defines a hereditament by:
- Definable position.
- Single occupation.
- Single use.
- Single geographical location.
If tenants occupy by licences, they generally don’t have enough control or exclusive use to be considered in rateable occupation.
Are separate entrances always required? Is there exclusivity if an entrance is shared?
Separate entrances are not always required. The key is whether each occupier has exclusive control over their space. Even with a shared entrance, the occupier can still be considered to have exclusive occupation if they control their part independently.
Can you tell me anything about the corporate veil?
The corporate veil is a legal concept that separates a company’s identity from its shareholders, protecting them from personal liability for the company’s debts. It can only be “pierced” in rare cases, such as fraud.
