Empty Properties
The Government reformed empty rate relief from 1 April 2008.
Properties that are empty and unused are free from business rates for the first three months (in some instances this may be six months). After this time the full charge becomes payable; this is called the empty property rate.
Certain properties are exempt from the empty property rate, such as:
- Those with a Rateable Value below £2,600 (this was temporarily changed to those with a rateable value below £15,000 for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 only and below £18,000 for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011)
- The empty property is held by a Charity or Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) and is likely to be used for charitable purposes or for the purposes of the sports club
- The empty property is a listed building
- A company in administration owns the empty property
Property not capable of occupation
If your property cannot be occupied because it is in poor condition and cannot be repaired at a reasonable cost, the Valuation Office may take it out of the ratings list altogether.
However, if your property has been damaged for the purpose of avoiding rates, the Valuation Office will make an assessment without taking this change into consideration. For example, if you remove a roof from your empty property in an attempt to stop it being rated, it will be valued as if the roof has not been removed.
Partly occupied property
If your property is partly occupied we can ask the Valuation Office to split the rateable value between the occupied and unoccupied parts.
The empty part will qualify for the three or six month exemption. Then the full-occupied rate will apply to the whole property again.
Appealing against the change in your rates liability
The changes to empty property relief cannot be appealed against, but you can still appeal if you disagree with the current rateable value of your property. To appeal you need to contact your local Valuation Office Agency (VOA) or go online to the VOA website.
