April 2023 marked the beginning of a new rating list and with it comes numerous questions and new burdens for ratepayers across England and Wales to navigate.
Every property has been revalued by the Valuation Office Agency and these values are set to be the basis for your business rates liability for the next three years.
Whilst some sectors have experienced decreases (please see our previous post regarding the impact to various sectors here: 2023 Revaluation, on the whole, the average rateable value has increased by over 7%.
It is clear from the graph below, created using data published by the Valuation Office Agency, the average rateable value reduces dramatically throughout the rating list. For example, during the previous rating list, the average rateable value fell by almost 8%. Further, we can see with the last rating list, the average rateable value ended up falling to almost exactly where it was at the end of the previous list.
History would suggest that the new rateable values given by the Valuation Office Agency may not be a fair and accurate representation of what you should truly be paying.
The Government have also introduced the Non-Domestic Rating Bill (Non-Domestic Rating Bill - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament). This Bill intends to modernise the business rates system with more frequent revaluations, potentially increased disclosure from the Valuation Office Agency and, maybe most impactfully, a duty for the ratepayer to inform the Valuation Office Agency about any changes to their properties with fines being implemented for a failure to do so.
The true impact of this new burden is unknown. At the bare minimum, this duty will create new administrative implications for business owners who already have enough on their plate. Gerald Eve have estimated the cost of this to ratepayers as up to £150 per rateable property per year (Businesses ‘face £300m-per-year bill under new Government proposals’ (yahoo.com)).
Holloway Bond are happy to help you and your business throughout the 2023 rating list. We can audit and find reductions for your entire portfolio- whether that consists of a single office or hundreds of properties across the country. We are also happy to offer more cost effective solutions to the duties proposed by the Non-Domestic Rating Bill.
Please contact us at info@hollowaybond.co.uk or call on 0208 0950 990 if you want to talk more!
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