Information on Business Rates in England
Jones Lang LaSalle’s rating experts are market leaders in providing advice in the complex and costly area of business rates.
Business Rates (read)
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All commercial premises are assessed for business rates – the assessments reflect the extent of occupation (known as a “hereditament”), the nature of the property (e.g. office), the Rateable Value (see below) and the date that the assessment is created (known as the “effective date”). |
Rating Lists (read)
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The assessments are contained in Rating Lists (a register of all of the assessments in each Local Authority’s - the Billing Authority - area). |
Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (read)
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It is the responsibility of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) - an executive agency of HM Revenues and Customs - to both compile and maintain the Rating Lists. |
Rateable Value (RV) (read)
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The Rateable Value (RV) is an estimate of the rental value of the hereditament (unit of occupation) at a set valuation date (the AVD). The AVD pre-dates each revaluation by 2 years. Assessments are currently shown in the 2010 Rating List – this became effective on 1st April 2010, reflecting rental values at an AVD of 1st April 2008 (i.e. 2 years earlier). |
2010 Revaluation (read)
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Revaluations occur every 5 years. These exist to re-set/bring up to date the Rateable Values in an attempt to ensure that economic changes are reflected in the tax base.
The current Revaluation came into effect on 1st April 2010, with an AVD of 1st April 2008. |
Rate Liability (read)
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The business rate liability is calculated as the Rateable Value (RV) times a multiplier (known as the Uniform Business Rate - UBR). The multiplier for 2009-10 is £0.485.
Example: a business occupying an office with an assessment of RV £1,000,000 will pay £485,000 in business rates for the 2009-10 year.
However, this simplistic calculation is complicated by the application of transitional relief – this exists to prevent swingeing increases in liability following a revaluation. The transitional scheme acts as a limit on the amount by which a rate liability can increase in any year.
A system of reliefs applies when calculating the liability for small businesses; in some areas additional supplements are charged.
The collection of business rates is the responsibility of the Local Authority for the area where the hereditament is situated. |
Vacant Properties: Unoccupied property rates and The Empty Properties Act 2007 (read)
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If a property is vacant then the person who is entitled to possession is liable for unoccupied property rates.
Following the enactment of The Empty Properties Act 2007, since 1st April 2008 vacant office and retail properties benefit from 100% empty property rate relief for the first three months and then revert to the full non-domestic business rate liability. Empty industrial properties benefit from 100% empty property rate relief for the first six months and then revert to the full non-domestic business rate liability. |
Reducing Rate Liability (read)
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Each ratepayer is able to appeal against their assessment for a number of reasons. It is also possible to reduce liability for areas that are vacant for short periods of time. |
To discuss reducing your rate liability please make an enquiry or contact: