Menu
The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has considered the assessments of three independent schools in north London and has concluded that they should be valued using the contractor’s test basis. The Valuation Officer had appealed to the Upper Tribunal against a decision of the Valuation Tribunal for England, and the Upper Tribunal has issued its decision in the matter of Turnbull (Valuation Officer) v Goodwyn School, Annemount School and Gower House School (2016) UKUT 0068 (LC).
The assessments of the three independent schools had been set by the Valuation Officer based on a small number of rents for such schools. The Valuation Tribunal for England found that the rental evidence used for this was from only a very small number of properties some of which were geographically too remote to be considered reliable evidence. The Valuation Officer appealed against that decision and sought to persuade the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) that there was sufficient evidence of rents of independent schools to support a rental basis of valuation. The Valuation Officer presented evidence of rents for twelve properties, including day nurseries as well as independent schools The Upper Tribunal reviewed each of these rents, and found that rents of day nurseries were not useful as comparables for the appeal properties. The Tribunal found that other rents referred to by the Valuation Officer were not reliable; some because they were between related parties, some because there was no information as to the basis on which the rents had been agreed, and others because the properties were of a different type to, or physically remote from, the appeal properties. The Upper Tribunal considered that “whether looked at as individual items or as a whole, the rental evidence presented by the Appellant is not sufficient to determine the rateable value of the premises of the three Respondent schools”.
The Upper Tribunal dismissed the Valuation Officer’s appeal and, as the parties had agreed that, if the contractor’s basis was to be applied, the assessments determined by the Valuation Tribunal for England were correct, those assessments were confirmed.
The decision is an important reminder that “comparables” have to be exactly that – comparable to the appeal premises. It also shows the importance of understanding the full picture behind any evidence, particularly that of rents, that is being referred to as “comparable”.
