The Upper Tribunal has issued a decision examining how the scope of a challenge to a rating list entry may be interpreted under the appeal regime introduced for the 2017 rating list, known as “check, challenge, appeal”, or more commonly as “CCA”. The decision also looks at circumstances in which the Valuation Officer sought to apply a valuation on the contractor’s basis (by reference to construction costs) to a property that was itself the subject of a rent. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has determined an appeal relating to the valuation, for rating purposes, of racing stables in Wiltshire. Whilst the subject matter of the appeal is of a specialist nature, some of the Tribunal’s conclusions regarding analysis and treatment of rental evidence are of wider significance. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has considered another appeal in respect of the valuation for rating purposes of museum properties. This is a matter that has been before the Upper Tribunal at least twice in recent years. The latest appeal by the Valuation Office Agency sought to introduce the concept of the socio-economic value of properties of this type. Despite extensive evidence showing that these types of property have a socio-economic value, the Tribunal concluded that such value accrues to the wider community, rather than specifically to the property concerned, and, in any event, there was no means to show that such value translated into a willingness to pay rent for the property. The Valuation Officer’s appeal was dismissed ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has considered an appeal in respect of a former Marks & Spencer store in Kidderminster. The Tribunal’s decision looks at the selection of evidence and at rental analysis in the current, difficult, market conditions for large retail stores. The determination of the Upper Tribunal represented a substantial reduction in the rating assessment of the appeal property. ...Read More