Business rates liabilities have historically been set every five years by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) through a ‘revaluation’. The liability is a percentage of the attributed Rateable Value (RV), which reflects the VOA’s opinion of rental value for the property occupied at a set valuation date.

Our expert business rates specialists work with the VOA and local billing authorities to positively shape and negotiate business rates assessments, ensuring that your business rates liabilities are kept to a minimum. The team is well placed to advise businesses on how best to manage existing liabilities and budget for any anticipated future liabilities. We offer business rates advice, not only throughout the course of a revaluation period but also throughout a property lifecycle, so that you can confidently anticipate costs.

• Check, challenge, appeal: we can review your current business rates liabilities and provide analysis on where best to challenge value both for the current 2017 revaluation and for the forthcoming 2023 revaluation 
• Disturbance: if you are undertaking work to the property, or there is neighbouring work affecting the quiet enjoyment of a commercial premises, then it may be possible to make an application for relief or raise a challenge on the grounds of a Material Change in Circumstance (MCC). Our experts assess the disturbance and advise accordingly
• ‘Rightsizing’ property portfolios through relocations, disposals, and acquisitions: during the Covid-19 pandemic, commercial real estate occupiers are re-visiting their occupied strategy to accommodate growth, streamlining and hybrid working arrangements. Our experts can ensure that whatever your rightsizing intentions your business rates liabilities are kept to a minimum
• Vacancy: we can apply for empty rates relief and advise on mitigating future business rates if your property falls vacant before the lease expires, at the end of a tenancy or ahead of and during an intended re-development period
• Deletion: we can advise on your entitlement to reduce your assessment to £0 or removed from the local or central rating lists if the property cannot be beneficially or actually occupied

Challenging the service of legal notices:

• Completion notice challenges: our experts will review that the notice has been served correctly and challenge it if appropriate

Assistance with budgeting:

• Advice and forecasting: we can provide regular advice on budgeting for business rates, real-time forecasting, and data on business rates savings over a revaluation period. We can provide liability reports both in line with the rate year and clients’ own financial years
• Rates audit: we can review your portfolio to identify credits that are outstanding and due to you. This involves a review of both current and historic portfolios to establish that they have been correctly charged and that the correct amendments to current and historic rating lists have in fact happened
• Identification of reliefs and refunds: we can review your business rates liabilities to ensure that you are benefitting from any reliefs to which you are entitled