188体育

General

1 - This Appendix should be read in conjunction with Practice Note 15/2 of this Manual.

2 - Under the blight provisions, section 149(3)(a) Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (T&CPA 1990) provides that a qualifying hereditament is one where the annual value (in the broadest of terms the rateable value appearing in the Rating List 鈥� see section 171(1) T&CPA 1990 for the full definition in this context) does not exceed the 鈥榩rescribed amount鈥�.

3 - The amount prescribed for the purposes of section 149(3)(a) T&CPA 1990 has been revised by the Town and Country Planning (Blight Provisions) (England) Order 2017 (SI 2017 No 472), which provides for an increase in the annual value limits for the submission of claims under Part I Land Compensation Act 1973 and blight notices under section 149 et seq of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (in both cases other than for dwellings or agricultural units), The revised annual value limits are 拢36,000 (an increase from the previous 拢34,800) for England (excluding Greater London) and 拢44,200 for Greater London. These changes came into force on 21 April 2017.

No corresponding Order has been made for Wales and the annual value limit remains at 拢34,800 as specified in the Town and Country Planning (Blight Provisions) (Wales) Order 2011 (SI 2011 No 435).

4 - For property exempt from rating or where part of a property is not rateable the 鈥榓nnual value鈥� will be calculated by adding together the rateable value of the property that has been rated and an 鈥榓ppropriate value鈥� provided by the Valuation Officer (VO).

5 - For property exempt from rating, this 鈥榓ppropriate value鈥� will be equal to the rateable value that would have applied if the property were not exempt. Although the types of hereditament where this will apply are limited (with places of public religious worship perhaps being the most common), the VO is required to adopt the normal non-domestic rating principles to arrive at 鈥榓ppropriate value鈥�.

6 - The value attributable in respect of an exempt hereditament within an enterprise zone (EZ) should be approached on the assumption that the EZ was not designated at the antecedent valuation date. Any effect of exemption from payment of rates on rental values should be disregarded.

7 - Experience has shown that most requests will come from potential claimants, rather than from acquiring authorities or other official bodies. Accordingly, the usual Customer Contact Record procedures will need to be followed.

8 - As it is improbable that there would be any current survey records for the property, an inspection to reference the premises should be arranged at the earliest opportunity with the occupier. Bearing in mind that the valuation may well need to be on the contractor鈥檚 test method and the appropriate local Building and Machinery Surveyor (BAMS) will also need to make an inspection, it may prove more efficient and economical to combine the two. Accordingly, in addition to requesting the services of the Building Surveyor formally, an early informal contact should also be made with BAMS to smooth out local logistical details.

9 - Once the valuation has been prepared, a report in letter format should be sent to the potential claimant/acquiring authority. The following text, which could be adapted to suit particular circumstances, may be used as a model:

鈥楩or the purposes of Section 149(3), and in accordance with Section 171, of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 I certify that the rateable value that would have been shown in the rating list for [address or identity of property] on [date of service] if it were a relevant non-domestic hereditament consisting entirely of non-domestic property, none of which was exempt from local non-domestic rating, would have been 拢xxxxx.

The relevant rating list in force on [date of service] was compiled on 1 April 2017 and adopts a statutory valuation date of 1 April 2015鈥�.

10 - It should be noted that there are no provisions for appeal against the value certified by the VO.