Chemical Engineering Company reduces business rates numbers with RVA Surveyors
Case study:
Chemical Engineering Company | Chesterfield
Global Chemical Engineering company with locations in England across the Midlands and South Yorkshire.
KEY
FACTS
£8,871
SAVINGS
Warehouse & Premise
PROPERTY TYPE
The Client
With locations across the globe, our client is a Chemical Engineering Company who create high-quality ingredients for both life science and material science industries. They assigned RVA Surveyors to inspect their Chesterfield location.
The Problem
Prior to RVA Surveyors visiting the property, the client had a previous review conducted which brought the property in line with the correct business rates. Though there were no grounds to move forward with a Check, there was an opportunity to move forward with a Challenge.
The whole property is made up of multiple warehouse and office structures older and newer, creating a convoluted layout. Due to this, the surveyor found grounds to submit a Challenge and apply an allowance and in turn reduce the clients’ liabilities.
The Solution
An allowance can be applied to a commercial property by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) if there are any known disadvantages for the owners or tenants in how they use it. For our client, the layout would permit them to have an allowance applied. To substantiate this, the surveyor submitted photographic evidence along with aerial view imagery to show the property’s layout and multiple structures.
The Outcome
The submission of the Challenge was successful with the VOA applying a 5% allowance to the property. And additional 10% allowance was added to one of the conjoined warehouses due to it having a permanently open front. This led to a reduction in the client’s business rates from £100,000 to £94,500, and a total saving of £8,871 in liabilities dating back to the beginning of the 2023 rating list, while also securing savings as the enter the 2026 Revaluation.
