The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has struck out two appeals by ratepayers in cases where the rating assessment of the appeal property had previously been agreed by the ratepayer concerned. The appeals that were struck out were considered by the Tribunal to be an abuse of process, and to have no chance of success in the light of the earlier agreements in respect of the properties concerned. But an appeal by a new ratepayer in respect of one of these properties was not struck out, because the new ratepayer was not bound by the agreement made by its predecessor. Ratepayers seeking to make “interim agreements” will need to consider these cases carefully. ...Read More

The September 2020 Consumer Prices' Index (CPI) figures have been published, and shows a 0.5% increase over previous year. This sets the upper limit for any increase in the Uniform Business Rates (UBR) for next rate year, 2021/22. In normal times next year's UBR would follow the increase in CPI. Ministers will have to consider the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the inflation figures, when setting the UBR for next year. Business will want some certainty on this at the earliest possible opportunity. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has considered proposals made following the coming into force of the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018 and the amended regulations which followed it. The Act was intended to reverse the effects of the decision of the UK Supreme Court in Woolway (VO) v Mazars LLP [2015] and allow units of property that were contiguous and were occupied together to be merged to form a single hereditament for rating purposes. The regulations introduced following the coming into force of the Act allowed proposals to be made to alter the 2010 rating lists, which would otherwise have been out of time. The question before the Tribunal was whether the proposals made in these cases came within that category. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has dismissed an appeal by the Valuation Officer against a refusal by the Valuation Tribunal for England to delete the assessment of a warehouse property for a temporary period only, during works of alteration. The Upper Tribunal found that the Valuation Tribunal for England had been correct to refuse to exercise a discretionary power to make an order which would result in the rating list being significantly inaccurate, when it had been within the power of the Valuation Officer to enter an accurate valuation and he had failed to do so within the period allowed. ...Read More

The Scottish Government has published its “Programme for Scotland 2020-2021” which includes an announcement that the rating revaluation that was due to take effect in Scotland from 1 April 2022 has been postponed to 1 April 2023, and will be based on property values at 1 April 2022. The Scottish Government’s move realigns the revaluation date in Scotland with those in England and Wales, but bases its valuations on property values at 1 April 2022, rather than on 1 April 2021 as in England and Wales. ...Read More

The Minister for Finance in the Welsh Assembly Government, Rebecca Evans MS, has announced that the rating revaluation that was proposed to come into force in Wales on 1 April 2021, has been postponed. The revaluation will, instead, come into force on 1 April 2023 and will to be based on rental values at 1 April 2021. The Minister’s statement says that “postponing the revaluation to 2023 will mean that the rateable values on which rates bills are based will better reflect the impact of COVID-19". The move mirrors a similar change in England, announced in the Spring Budget. ...Read More

The Court of Appeal has dismissed appeals by the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy seeking the compulsory winding up, on public interest grounds, of companies operating schemes designed to avoid business rates. The appeals are the latest in an extensive line of cases in which central and local government have sought to defeat business rates avoidance schemes. In these latest cases the Court of Appeal found that there was no public interest that justified the compulsory winding up of the companies operating these schemes. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has dismissed an appeal against a refusal by a Vice=President of the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE) to review a decision of the VTE. The Upper Tribunal’s decision is a useful reminder to practitioners that there is no appeal against a refusal by the VTE to review one of its decisions, and that the time limit for an appeal against a VTE decision itself, is not suspended because of an application for a review. ...Read More

The Supreme Court has determined that the sites of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) at food supermarkets and at convenience stores do not form separately rateable hereditaments and should be treated for rating purposes as part of the host store hereditament. The Court dismissed an appeal by the Valuation Office Agency against an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal. This judgment brings to an end more than six years of litigation on this subject, and clears the way to resolve many thousands of outstanding appeals. It also has implications for other cases where there is potentially more than one hereditament. ...Read More

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman, has made a written statement on 21 July, announcing that the next rating revaluation in England will take effect from 1 April 2023, and will be based upon values at 1 April 2021. This revaluation replaces one that was due to take effect from 1 April 2022 based upon property values at 1 April 2019. The government statement says that the change in date will allow the revaluation better to reflect the effects of Covid 19 on property values. ...Read More