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Rating Talking Heads: July

Transitional Relief for the Coming Revaluation 

CPT in conjunction with the Rating Surveyors Association, invite you to watch this module of 'Talking Heads' which was hosted at Mills & Reeve in London. The event runs as an informal discussion between a small panel of leading and informed practitioners extracting the nuances from this months topic: Transitional Relief for the Coming Revaluation.

Module Duration: 58 minutes

Recorded: 12/07/2022

Areas covered

Please note there are no slides accompanying this recording. 

Transitional adjustments can be the primary influence on changes to rate liability following a revaluation. This is particularly true if a revaluation leads to large shifts in rateable value, as the 2023 revaluation looks set to do. The government is required by law to introduce transitional arrangements at each revaluation, and has just published a consultation in relation to the transitional arrangements for the 2023 revaluation in England. The document helps signpost the principles and approaches that will be adopted and applied to the Rating List, when its published. It is also an opportunity to listen (rather than read) to the consultation and its key focus areas; and is an opportunity to share your views in this forum, or indeed, share your views directly with DLUHC.

Our talking heads will consider amongst other matters;

  • Is transition going to happen? Some stakeholders in the Business Rates Review suggested that more frequent revaluations could reduce the need for and scope of future transitional arrangements. Is this an option to Government?
  • The role of the transitional arrangements
  • Transition will now be over the 3 year revaluation cycle and not over 5 years; what does a shortened period mean to managing transition?
  • History repeating... apart from the term, could the structure and format be altered? If so, how?
  • The transitional options – their strengths and weaknesses
  • Are we still adopting the process of fiscal neutrality - denying the full reductions to downward bills to pay for the steep increases to increasing bills from the losers of the Reval?  
  • Given the change of the business climate – from relative stability to one with escalating inflation, rampant fuel, energy, supply and distribution costs, businesses want/need any reductions to help survive the ill economic winds. Why should they borrow money at commercial banking rates when the UK Government has the cheapest lending rates through their AAA credit rating? Should UK Plc fund the upward transition through its borrowing ability and charge the interest it incurs to ratepayers; so allowing full reductions to be received by those entitled to them?
  • Data used will be from values based on the rental market at 1 April 2021 – the AVD. Assessing rental evidence during COVID must have been a challenge; might challenges assist ratepayers and their advisors to get in or out of the transition scheme?

July's Talking Heads