Local Taxation - Level 2 Flashcards
Tell me about a rating appeal you have submitting upon behalf of a
client.
Tell me about how the last rating revaluation affected
tenants/landlords/your role?
Notting Hill - Why did you not deem it appropriate to delete the property at the flood date?
Due to statute and caselaw - the deletion should be at the date of strip out as that constituted it being incapable of beneficial occupation
Tell me about a favourable rating outcome you have negotiated for a
client.
Tell me about your experience of the compiled list/MCC appeals?
Notting Hill – What guidance did you use to consider the case?
Supreme Court in Newbiggin v Monk
Notting Hill - What condition was the property in?
Property was in disrepair
Notting Hill - What was included with in the schedule of works?
Strip out work, work to be completed together with the plans and specifications, forms the basis of a contract between the employer and the contractor to successfully deliver the project. On time and on budget.
Notting Hill - In your opinion, was the property capable of being occupied after the flood?
No evidence was suggesting the condition of the property internally therefore i had to rely on when strip out took place.
Notting Hill - Why did you recommend deletion on the date the works began?
The hypothetical landlord would consider the works economic to undertake and the property became incapable of beneficial occupation at the date of strip out.
when the works of repair commenced and the accommodation was stripped out it is my opinion that it was no longer a hereditament
Notting Hill – how did you assess whether the property was capable of beneficial occupation?
With photographs, Articles relating to the flood, and a gant chart of the work
Notting Hill – How did you deal with the challenge?
My first step was to carry out my desk based review.
during my desked based review i came to the realisation that the material day needs to be questioned as the proeprty was a matter of disrepair
I contacted the agent a copy of the schedule of work and i made the decision that the landlord would have seen the work to be economical so i informed the agent that the property should be deleted but not at the date of the flood but at the date of the works beginning.
Notting Hill – How did you consider the disrepair and flood risk?
I considered the definition of rateable values 3 assumptions. assumption being the property was in reasonble state of repair and the fact that the landlord would deem the property economical the do the work.
Notting Hill – How did you consider the scheme of works proposed?
When looking at the schedule of work, i looked at the work and the dates to make the decision when the material day should be
Office Merger – What do you mean by the units being contiguous?
Notting Hill – How did you decide to delete the property from the rating list?
Under case law the 4 tenets for a property to be in rateable occupation are:
- Actual Occupation
- Beneficial Occupation
- Exclusive Occupation
- Transient (not too transient)
The property at the date of strip out became incapable of beneficial occupation
Notting Hill – When would the property be reinstated on the rating list?
When the works have been completed. when it shown to benefit from beneficial occupation
Office Merger – How did this impact on the request for a tone reduction?
When combing the units into one hereditament the floor area changed and va
Office Merger– Why did you reject the challenge but merge the two units on a valuation office notice?
Unit of assessment was incorrect and therefore the challenge was incorrect. I merged the units as the property has a single occupier, it was contigious and following Pico it was a single hereditament
Office Merger – What impact did that have on the rates payable?
The tone was reduced to £450 from £472.50 however, as the hereditament was merged they main space area became significantly larger which meant the rateable value went up.
Office Merger– What were the key issues relating to the tone reduction?
The agent was seeking a reduction in tone mentioning the small unit space being in the basement. Having determined the property was contigious and the unit was a single hereditament, the tone was reduced
Office Merger – How did you assess the tone for this property?
The tone was reflected by comparable evidence
Office Merger – What does contiguous mean in the context of this instruction?
Office Merger – Why did you reject the challenge?
Office Merger – Why did you then merge the two units?
Office Merger – What was the outcome of this for the ratepayer?
Office Merger – Why was the base rate lowered as a result?
Notting Hill - What was the effective date and why?
30 August 2021 date of strip out when it became incapable of beneficial occupation
Notting Hill - What case law did you follow?
Notting Hill - Why did you ask for a scheme of works?
To see when the extent of the works and to see when the proeprty became incapable of beneficial occupation
Notting Hill - What principle of Newbigin v Monk was relevant?
Notting Hill - What is the canary wharf case about and why did you consider it?
Office Merger - What is ‘tone’?
The general level of bands which have been established within an area for a particular type of property
Office Merger - What was the material day for the proposal?
20 October 2017
Office Merger - What is the AVD for the 2017 list?
1 April 2015
Office Merger - Why is contiguity relevant? What case law refers to this?
It is crucial to identify the unit of assessment - Woolway (VO) v Mazars (2016) and Pico
Office Merger - What is PICO?
Under section 1 of the Act, these contigious properties will b viewed a one proeprty for business rates purposes if the following condition are met:
A) two or more hereditaments (whether in the same building or otherwise) are occupied by the same person)
B) The hereditaments qualify as ‘contigious’ (for example separated by a common wall, or located on seperate floors of the same office building)
C) none of the hereditaments is used for a purpose which is wholly different from the purpose of which any of the other hereditaments is used.
Office Merger - What is Mazars?
All floors in a multi-occupied office building occupied by the same entity must be
separately assessed even where the floors are contiguous, save where there is a direct link (e.g. an
internal staircase) without passing through the common parts.
This Supreme Court landmark case related to premises leased by a firm of
accountants in Tower Bridge House, being on the 2nd and 6th floors of a multi-occupied office
building. The intervening floors were leased to a firm of solicitors.
Office Merger - What is a valuation office notice?
Office Merger - What is ‘unit of assessment’?
