The legislation to reverse the effects of the Supreme Court judgment in Woolway (VO) v Mazars LLP (2015) has become law. The Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act provides that, where two or more hereditaments occupied or owned by the same person meet certain conditions as to contiguity, those hereditaments may be treated for the purposes of non-domestic rating as one hereditament. ...Read More

The Non-Domestic Rating (Nursery Grounds) Act 2018 received the Royal Assent on 1 November 2018. Its effect is to exempt from rates buildings which are used as plant nurseries, even if those buildings are not attached to agricultural land. ...Read More

The Budget 2018 introduces some new business rates reliefs, including a one-third business rates discount for smaller shops for two years from 2019, but shows no sign of addressing the fundamental problems that beset the business rates regime - which are an excessively high tax rates and an overly complex system. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has struck out an appeal made by a ratepayer because the Appellant failed to provide a Statement of Case to support its appeal. The decision is one of a series of Upper Tribunal decisions which appear to seek to reshape the way in which appeals against business rates assessments are conducted. ...Read More

The September 2018 Consumer Prices Index (CPI) figure has been announced and shows a 2.4% increase over the previous year. This sets the upper limit by which next year's Uniform Business Rate (UBR) multiplier is expected to increase in England and Wales. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has issued an important, and unusual, decision in which it clarifies the role of expert witnesses before the Tribunal and rules regarding the fee arrangements for such experts. ...Read More

The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has issued its decision in respect of an appeal made by the Home Office seeking to reduce the rating assessment for its offices in Marsham Street, London. The appeal was a successful one, but hard-pressed commercial ratepayers may be permitted a wry smile that even the Government is finding its own rates burden excessive. ...Read More

The Valuation Tribunal for England has issued a significant decision concerning the use of an office building by live-in guardians. The VTE has determined that the owner of the building remained in paramount occupation and that the building was not used "wholly for the purposes of living accommodation". The building therefore remained an office hereditament for the purposes of non-domestic rating and should be assessed accordingly. ...Read More

The Administrative Court has found that a rates mitigation scheme operated by Principled Offsite Logistics Limited represented beneficial occupation of property, capable of satisfying the tests of rateable occupation. In its decision in R (on the Application of Principled Offsite Logistics) v Trafford Borough Council, the Court found in favour of Principled on the question of whether its occupation of a property at Stretford Mall in Manchester was beneficial, but declined to quash a decision by Trafford Borough Council to lay information in respect of the property on the basis that it was unoccupied. The decision is an important one for landlords of vacant properties and for those operating rates mitigation schemes in respect of such 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 decision in The Appeal of Benchmark Furniture Limited (2018) is the latest in a line of cases where the Upper Tribunal has reinstated appeals wrongly struck out by the Valuation Tribunal for England. ...Read More