Every five years, the Valuation Office Agency is required by law to re-value every business premises in the country. The purpose of the revaluation is not to change the amount of money collected in rates nationally, but to make sure that the individual rateable values reflect the changes that have taken place in the property market since the last revaluation.

Depending on which Rating List the Valuation Office is creating or amending a different valuation date will be used. Please see the table below for clarification.

The revaluation can often lead to large increases or decreases in Rateable Values as rental prices can often change in a five-year period. Even though your Rateable Value may have increased, it does not necessarily mean that your bill will increase. The amount of Rates payable is dependant on the multipliers that the Government tells us to apply when calculating Rates bills.

Even if the new Rateable Value of your property has resulted in a large increase in your bill, you may still get the benefit of a transitional adjustment, which may cushion the impact of the increase.

The Valuation Office re-valuated all properties in England in 2003. The new lists came into force on the 1st April 2005. The next re-valuation is due to begin in 2008 for the financial year starting 1st April 2010.

New rateable values represent a professional assessment of the annual rent of a property, as if it was available to let on the open market as at 1st April 2003. The Valuation Office gathers as much evidence as possible about actual rents paid for properties in order to determine appropriate rental values.

The rateable value of any property can be inspected the Valuation Office Agency website .

When can a Rateable Value be changed?

The rateable value of a property may be changed for a number of reasons. Your premises may alter in size as a result of an extension or other alteration, the use of your premises may change or you may appeal against the assessment following a revaluation. In addition, you may combine your premises with next door or you may split it into two or more units.

If you believe that your rateable value is too high or you have need to change the assessment of your property, you must contact the Valuation Office. Details regarding how to appeal are on the Valuation Office website and further guidance is available from the Local Government Finance website.

What if I don’t receive a reduction immediately?

Many appeals can take some time to settle. If you are waiting for a change in your assessment it is important that you continue to pay your Business Rates as shown on your bill until the change has been made.

The Business Rates regulations allow us to pay interest on any backdated overpayment. If you overpay your Rates, therefore, you will receive your overpayment back with interest. Where a rateable value has changed, the Valuation Office will contact us direct. We will send you a revised bill, showing your new rate charge and the effective date of the change.

If you have overpaid, we will send you a refund. In some circumstances, we will off-set any previous years overpayments against your current years bill.

Paying Interest

We will normally pay interest on your overpayment provided you have made your payments on time. However, we will not pay any interest on any overpayment if we have taken recovery action against you and obtained a Liability Order from the Magistrates Court. It is important that you continue to make payments on time until a decision against your appeal has been made or recovery action will be taken against you and you will lose your right to interest.