Leigh Richardson, Director of Business Rates at GVA, comments on the effect for South West businesses of the Government’s decision to postpone the Rates Revaluation
The UK’s largest independent commercial property advisor, GVA, claims the Government has missed a clear opportunity to fairly re-distribute the business rates burden.
The Rates Revaluation of 2015, which was yesterday (18 October) postponed by the Government until 2017, would have seen London take a greater share of England’s overall rates bill and large parts of the South West would have seen a welcome fall in rates from April 2015.
However Leigh Richardson, GVA’s Director of Business Rates in Bristol, argues that this move by the Government will, at best, delay the day when South West businesses receive the benefit of lower rates bills, and at worst, will mean that the redistribution might never happen.
Mr Richardson warns: “It is surprising that a decision like this has been made at a time when the most challenged of ratepayers are pleading for Government to help them ride out the worst economic crisis in modern times.
“It is now more important than ever to appoint Rating experts to make sure that your Rateable Values are as low as possible, as rates bills will be based on these figures for an extra two years until 2017 at the very least.”
The revaluation of all rateable values is scheduled to take place every five years and is conducted by the Valuation Office Agency, an executive agency of HM Revenue and Customs. This is to ensure that Rateable Values reflect the changes that have taken place in the property market since the previous valuation date, and since 2008, rental values across the region have fallen.
It is this process that has been suspended for a further two years, leaving current rate bills for South West businesses static until 2017 at the earliest.
GVA in Bristol has one of the most experienced Business Rates teams in the Region and handles rates appeals for many of the largest property occupiers in the South West and South Wales.
