The rating office agency (VOA) were supposed to publish the preliminary ranking in early October 2022, but this was not published until the end of November, and even then not all the information was available. Earlier access to this dataset would have enabled commercial property owners and tenants to predict and prepare their financial plan for the business rates for the upcoming revaluation.
Although the year ended on a hopeful note – with a surprise economic growth of 0.1% for November 2022 – experts are by no means ruling out a recession. Experts even assume that the UK will meet the official definition of a recession by the end of the second quarter of this year. How deep a recession is, however, is still up for debate.
“Unfortunately, the published and hidden hikes for businesses across the country will cause a lot of problems,” said Anthony Hughes, managing director of Business Rate Reduction Specialists RVA appraiser. “Also with the expansion of retail, hospitality and leisure relief. Some industries are seeing gains of 30% across the board, while others have been a bit luckier. Entrepreneurs and leaders should act now to ensure they don’t miss out on historic savings and prepare their case to prepare for June 1stst from
April when the increases go into effect.”
What does this mean for business plans?
With less than three months until the expected reassessment (April 1, 2023), now is the best time to review corporate rates, says RVA Surveyors, as the case has to be filed by the end of March. The VOA sets the taxable value (RV) for each commercial property for each new revaluation, which in turn determines the amount of commercial tax liability that commercial property owners and tenants pay. Failing to review corporate interest rates ahead of the next re-rating could leave money on the table.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the economy is at a standstill shrunk
in the last three months. So while the unexpected monthly growth for November 2022 was a pleasant surprise, the projected economic downturn overall is continuing, albeit perhaps a bit slower and milder than initially feared.
Business rates are typically one of the top four costs for any commercial property tenant or owner. With a revaluation just around the corner – and a staggering rise on the horizon – commercial property owners and tenants need to take the time to properly assess their liability for business fees.
