Business Rates Reduced for Day Nursery in Stockport
Case study:
Pre School Nursery | Stockport
An established day nursery set in Edgeley, Stockport who assigned RVA Surveyors to review their business rates.
KEY
FACTS
£10,792
SAVINGS
Day Nursery & Premise
PROPERTY TYPE
The Client
Set in the heart of Edgeley, Stockport, our client is a well-regarded day nursery within the area, looking after children from ages 6 months to 5 years old. Within the property are multiple rooms for all age ranges including a sensory and baby room.
The Problem
To calculate the Rateable Value (RV) for a nursery in the current 2023 rating list, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) bases the RV on the number child spaces. To ensure the VOA has the correct number of child spaces on the assessment, they should reference Ofsted.
When an expert surveyor from RVA Surveyors was assigned to do an in-depth inspection of the property, they found that the VOA valued the RV on 78 child spaces when Ofsted showed this to be much lower at 56. It was also found by the surveyor that the property itself was on the incorrect scheme, which also led to an increase in the nursery’s RV.
The Solution
To ensure the nursery’s Rateable Value and scheme are correct, both a Check and Challenge were submitted to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). The Check to contest the number of child spaces, and the Challenge to move the property onto the correct scheme.
During the 2023 rating list, the VOA continuously changed how you could contest the number of child spaces, making it difficult to reduce business rates swiftly for nursery property owners and tenants. However, the VOA finally settled on this to be submitted through a Check, so the surveyor put forward a case along with the evidence from Ofsted stating the number of child spaces as 56.
The Outcome
Though the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) have not yet returned with a verdict on the Challenge to change schemes, they did return regarding the Check case to reduce child spaces which was a success. This led to a current reduction in Rateable Value from £39,000 to £28,000 and a total in savings so far of £10,792.
Once the VOA return concerning the Challenge, and if successful to change to the correct scheme, this will lead to a further reduction in business rates liabilities for the client as we head into the new revaluation.
