The Upper Tribunal has found that the Valuation Tribunal for England was entitled to reinstate the original rateable value of offices, which had been reduced to nil during fitting out works, following completion of the works, despite the fact that the works concerned had altered the offices and reduced their floor area. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has been called upon to decide the meaning of “space” – as it appears in the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018. The Tribunal’s decision will be significant to those trying to merge different hereditaments into one under this legislation. ...Read More

The Government has confirmed the local finance settlement for the 2020/21 rate year and, following this, has confirmed to Uniform Business Rate multipliers that will apply from 1 April 2020. In England, these will be 49.9 pence for small businesses and 51.2 for larger businesses. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has published an important decision regarding the basis of valuation for rating purposes of historic buildings occupied on a “not for profit” basis. The Tribunal’s decision in Hughes (VO) v Exeter City Council will be of interest to all those involved with the valuation for rating purposes of museums and other historic buildings. ...Read More

The High Court has dismissed a claim made by a number of NHS foundation trusts that they should benefit from charitable rates relief in respect of the hospitals and other properties occupied by the trusts. The Court found that the trusts were not established for charitable purposes only and, because of this, they were not entitled to charitable rate relief. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has determined that the relegation of a football club from the Premier League to the Championship, and subsequently to League One, did not represent a “material change of circumstance” when valuing the stadium for rating purposes. ...Read More

The decision of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) in Colour Weddings Ltd v Roberts (VO) deals with the treatment of a property undergoing works of alteration to enable a change of use from warehouse to wedding venue, and how the rating assessment should be altered to reflect those works. ...Read More

The High Court has refused an application by the Secretary of State for Business for the compulsory winding up of companies operating business rates mitigation schemes. The Court’s decision will be of interest to owners of vacant property and those operating rates mitigation schemes for those properties ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has reinstated a business rates appeal that had been struck out by the Valuation Tribunal for England. The Upper Tribunal found that the Valuation Tribunal for England had not given proper consideration to the circumstances before striking out the original appeal. ...Read More

The Treasury Select Committee has published its report into the impact of business rates on business. The report’s key finding is that “Business rates have become an increasingly significant proportion of the total taxes borne by business. In response to this report HM Treasury must explain whether it is deliberate government policy to rebalance business taxes in this way and, if so, what this policy decision is intended to achieve”. But the report is not only critical of the level of business rates in the UK, it also has criticism of the complexity of the system and of the new appeals process, known as “Check Challenge Appeal”. ...Read More