Govenment consultation on rating appeals raises concern

Chris Billson

The Government has opened consultation on proposals to improve the business rates valuation and formal appeal system.  However, commercial property agent Prop-Search is concerned that the changes may compound problems for occupiers seeking to appeal their business rates.

Under the current system, ratepayers cannot see the detailed rental evidence on which rateable values are based and make large numbers of speculative challenges without any need to explain why they think their rateable value may be wrong.  As a result, the system has a high volume of unresolved challenges, which has led to delays in the appeals process.  Government figures suggest that approximately 680,000 appeals are currently lodged a year which at its peak topped 1.36 million.

The Government has set up proposals which are aimed at improving the transparency of the valuation process and the disclosure of more information on rental evidence, thus allowing ratepayers to check their rateable value without having to make a formal challenge.

Chris Billson, a Director at Prop-Search, said: “The new proposals - which look to be introduced 01 October this year - will allow ratepayers to check the evidence used in assessing their rateable values without having to make a formal challenge.  However, any business wishing to challenge the rating assessment will have to submit a detailed explanation as to why they believe their assessment is inaccurate.”

“Given that the majority of businesses feel very strongly about the amount of revenue collected from them in business rates, this new system is unlikely to deter most medium to larger companies from lodging an appeal.  It is more likely that smaller enterprises will be intimidated by the proposed process and require the services of a surveyor to act on their behalf.”

Prop-Search is concerned that this could lead to small businesses being targeted by ‘cowboy’ rating advisors attempting to profiteer from this proposed change in legislation.  These ‘cowboys’ will often promise big reductions on a business’s rates but in reality, it will often be the case that any savings they make are minimal and are quickly dwarfed by the fees they charge.

Businesses would be well advised to directly approach local rating professionals to deal with such matters on their behalf.  Checks can be made to ensure that they are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and that they are suitably experienced to deal with rating law and valuation.

Further information or advice can be obtained from Prop-Search - Tel: 01933 223300 / 01604 492000 or its website: www.prop-search.com