A Chartered Accountants reduces their business rates with RVA Surveyors
Case study:
Chartered Accountants | West Corby
A chartered accountants and business adviser with offices based in West Corby.
KEY
FACTS
£25,208
SAVINGS
Office
PROPERTY TYPE
The Client
Our client is a well-established and recognised chartered accountant and business advisor with offices across the Globe. In the UK, our client is comprised of 10-member firms and 39 offices.
They came to RVA Surveyors to review business rates for one of their properties based in West Corby, Northamptonshire.
The Problem
Initially submitted as a Check, the client’s West Corby property covered three floors and was assessed as separate premises by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). The expert surveyor went to the VOA to request a merge of the three floors so the clients’ business rates liabilities would sit under one rateable value (RV).
Doing this should have led to a significant reduction in RV, and though a reduction was granted, it wasn’t what the client or RVA Surveyors were hoping for. The merging of premises should’ve led to a significant reduction in tone/m2 to ensure the property’s RV and price per m2 isn’t inflated over the rental market value.
As reduction in tone/m2 was not taken into consideration by the VOA, the first stage of the Check Challenge Appeal process didn’t proceed.
The Solution
To rectify this, RVA Surveyors submitted a Challenge and resent lease information to the VOA requesting a backdated tone/m2 reduction of £90/m2 to £70/m2 starting from the beginning of the ratings list (April 2023), which if successful would lead to a RV reduction from £56,000 to £43,500.
The Outcome
Now with the updated lease information to prove our client’s RV did not match the current rates payable, the VOA accepted the Challenge case. With the now agreed RV of £43,500 and the reduction in tone to £70/m2, our client was able to save over £25,200 on their business rates liabilities. The success of this Challenge means that our client has received substantial savings, and now ensure their historic, current and future liabilities are in line with the property’s rental value and size.
