Local taxation/ assessment

Question 1

How do you calculate business rates liability

Answer 1

Rateable Value x Multiplier (less any reliefs)

Question 2

What are the current multipliers?

Answer 2

Small business rates multiplier 49.9p
Standard business rates multiplier 54.6p

Question 3

Are business rates charged on all non-domestic properties?

Answer 3

No exempt properties include:
- agricultural buildings
- places of worship
- buildings for welfare or training of disabled people

Question 4

Can you tell me any of the relevant legislation?

Answer 4

• General Rate Act 1967 (consolidated all previous legislation)
• Local Government Finance Act 1988
• Rating Valuation Act 1999
• Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023

Question 5

What guidance is there for rating surveyors?

Answer 5

RICS 5th edition of the Rating Consultancy Code of Practice 2024
VOA Agent Standards

Question 5

Can you tell me some of the changes brought in by the Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023?

Answer 5

• 3 yearly revaluations rather than 5 yearly beginning 2026
• information sharing - responsibility on ratepayers to provide information
• improvement relief - new mandatory relief
• completion notices on refurbished buildings can be served (as was already the case with new buildings to add them back to the rating list)

Question 6

What is the effective date of the current list and what is the AVD

Answer 6

1 April 2023
1 April 2021

Question 7

What do you mean by AVD and what is it?

Answer 7

Antecedent Valuation Date is the valuation date adopted for the 2023 rating list

Question 8

Can you tell me what is meant by rateable value?

Answer 8

The RV is determined by the VOA and is the annual rental value on the AVD of a property assuming a hypothetical tenancy based on the following assumptions:
Vacant; available to let on an annual tenancy; FRI terms; in good repair; tenant pays rates; current use; no alteration may be made (only minor)

Question 9

What is a hereditament?

Answer 9

A statutory definition does not occur but the General Rate Act 1967 describes a hereditament as property which is or may be liable to a rate and be shown as a separate item in the valuation list. A hereditament is land or property that must satisfy the following 6 rules: in a billing authority, single rateable occupier, be capable of separate occupation, single geographical unit, single use, single definable position.

Question 10

What are the essential ingredients for occupation?

Answer 10

Beneficial occupation - capable of occupation and be in repair
Exclusive occupation - separate entrances/exits
Actual occupation
Transient permanence - licences are too transient and do not give occupier possession as can be terminated very quickly (transience)

Question 11

What information do you include in a check submission?

Answer 11

Factual details - info to confirm floor areas, address, lease info relevant to non-valuation contentions such as a split, merger or floor area contention

Question 12

What information do you include in a challenge submission

Answer 12

More detailed - include for comparable evidence for a valuation contention

Question 13

Can you explain contiguity for me

Answer 13

Contiguity means some or all of a wall/means of enclosure must form part of a wall/enclosure the other.
This can include consecutive stories - Woolway v Mazars

Question 14

Can you tell me what the different methods of valuation are and when you might use them?

Answer 14

Comparable method - properties where there is sufficient rental evidence to analyse on a rate psm
Receipts and expenditure method - trading premises (hotels pubs caravan parks)
Contractor’s basis - property which does not transact on the rental market (unusual i.e., factory)

Question 15

What is transitional relief

Answer 15

It limits how much your bill can change each year as a result of business rates revaluation. I.e., if your bill increased in 2024-25 up to £20,000 RV you receive a 10% plus inflation relief.

Question 16

What can you tell me about small business rates relief?

Answer 16

RV up to £12,000 you receive 100% relief
RV between £12,001 and £15,000- tapered relief between 100% and 0%
To be eligible for the relief, the ratepayer must have one property with a value of less than £15,000 or one main property, plus there may be relief for other additional properties providing those additional properties have RVs of less than £2,899 and the total RV of all the properties must be less than £20,000 (£28,000 in London)

Question 17

What can you tell me about empty property relief??

Answer 17

3 months relief or 6 months relief for industrial
Minimum period of 13 weeks occupation before empty rates relief will apply

Question 18

What can you tell me about retail, leisure and hospitality relief?

Answer 18

75% reduction of your business rates bills for the 2024 - 2025 billing year
The most you can get in relief for each billing year is £110,000 per business

Question 19

What can you tell me about charitable relief?

Answer 19

Charities and community amateur sports clubs can apply for charitable relief of up to 80% if a property is used for charitable purposes. Local authorities can increase this to 100% at their discretion.

Question 20

Can you tell me about CCA process and the different timescales?

Answer 20

From submission of check, the VOA have 12 weeks to respond, but have extended this to 12 months to deal with the backlog from the revaluation.
Once you have completed a check, you can challenge any valuation related to the same property within 4 months of the check decision notice / within 16 months of check if challenge is about a change in the surrounding area (I.e., roadworks)
Up to 18 months response for challenge

Question 21

If you were to represent your client at Valuation Tribunal, in what capacity would you be acting?

Answer 21

Surveyors intending to appear before a valuation tribunal are advised to be aware that their primary duty in giving expert advice is to the valuation tribunal, overriding any duty to their employer.
Surveyors can appear at tribunal in a dual role of both advocate and expert witness, where they are satisfied they may do so appropriately - the changed from advocate expert witness shall be made clear by the statement ‘I will now give my evidence’
An expert may provide evidence openly and honestly
An advocate may emphasise a point, but not to the extent that the tribunal is mislead

Question 22

What is the Empty Rates Relief Case Law?

Answer 22

Makro Properties Ltd v Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council (2012)
Occupier using a small amount of small to store a pallet of documents in large warehouse. After this was removed they received the 6-month exemption period for empty rates relief.
High Court decided that the occupier was in occupation and therefore could claim relief upon end of their occupation

Sunderland City Council v Stirling Investment Properties (2013)
43 day occupancy of a vacant unit for the installation of a small WiFi transmitter box was sufficient to trigger new rates exemption period for the owner

Question 23

What is the case law for RV £0?

Answer 23

Newbigin v S.J & J. Monk (2015)
Properties undergoing refurbishment or redevelopment should be exempt from business rates while work is being carried out at the accommodation is unusable