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CLOSED FOR BUSINESS
dTZ | In Situ
31
mAteRiAl cHANGes iN ciRcumstANces (mcc) to PRoPeRties
12. rates relief from external
mcc can include:
• Physical damage to property
• Physical change to local
area, e.g. roadworks or
restricted access to site
• A change in the use
of the building
• redevelopment of a
neighbouring property
13. Internal mcc – There may
be a possibility to reduce a
rateable Value due to works
or improvements being
carried out internally
Last year, companies across the uK were
hit with a 5.6% increase in their rates
payable for FY 2012/13 – the highest
inflationary increase in 20 years.
moreover, on the 18 october 2012
the government announced that it
was planning to defer the 2015 rating
revaluation in england by two years to
2017 (with The Scottish Parliament and
Welsh Assembly following suit). This
means that bills already based on pre-
recession rental values as at 1 April 2008
will be nine years out of date, despite
revaluations being required by statue
every five years since 1990.
WhY IS ThIS hAPPenInG?
The government claims the extension
provides an opportunity to provide
stability to ratepayers. Brandon Lewis,
Parliamentary under Secretary of State
14. If the change in value by
the Valuation officer is
wrong it can be challenged
— any notice served by
the Valuation officer
can be challenged
15. A decision by a Valuation
Tribunal (VT) or
higher court may have
implications for your
own valuation — if an
agreement cannot be
made between the agent
and the Valuation office
then it will be referred to
the valuation tribunal or
higher court to decide on
the outcome on an appeal
and such decisions can
have wider implications
16. Physical changes involving
adjoining properties — mergers
or splits could have a big impact
on liability but care needs to
be taken so as to follow the
most advantageous route
17. If there is another sort of
error in the list entry,
e.g. the description of
the property or the
date of a Vo alteration
is wrong, rates
relief may
be applicable
10. exemption from unoccupied
rates relief is available when
the property is unoccupied for
a period of three months, (six
months on certain industrial units)
11. Vacant properties with a
rateable value below that of
£2,600 are exempt from empty
rates (in england & Wales)
and £1,700 in Scotland
for communities and Local Government,
claimed: “This decision will avoid local
firms and local shops facing unexpected
hikes in their business rate bills over the
next five years…a revaluation at this point
would be likely to result in sharp changes
to business rate bills in many parts of
the country and in many sectors. Tax
stability is vital to businesses looking to
grow and help improve the economy.” he
failed to advise that the “sharp changes”
in business rates bills would have been
downwards as the revaluation would have
adopted a valuation date of 1 April 2013.
We believe this is a flawed decision and
ignores the rationale of the revaluation
process, which is to redress structural
changes in property values, re-
distributing the burden of rates between
those sectors that may have flourished
and those that have weakened over the
five year period since the last revaluation.
RyAN yAPP
business development
manager, Rating
+44 (0)1242 535 852
RicHARd WilliAmsoN
senior director, Rating
+44 (0)1242 535 821
simoN GRiffiN
senior director, Rating
+44 (0)1242 535 805
Whilst
the uK is known as
having the highest local taxes
in the property world, some of
these cost saving initiatives and
learnings could be useful in other
countries where local tax is
a significant cost
