In a shock announcement, the Government has said that it intends to delay the Rating Revaluation from 1st April 2015 to 1st April 2017.
Although the announcement was made with predictable “positive spin,” the decision is in fact a deeply negative one for English ratepayers, with the exception of some in London.
The issue is a complex one, but the 2015 revaluation was undoubtedly going to deliver a wide measure of relief to ratepayers stuck with high Rateable Values that were derived from the “pre-crash” rental values of April 2008. The “re-basing” of rating assessments to much lower (anticipated) rental values as of April 2013 would have delivered welcome relief to many.
According to TAG’s rating expert, Michael Blank, “It is universally accepted that we would have had a period of steadily reducing rates bills on many properties. Now that prospect has apparently receded by two years, this is the reality of todays’ announcement.”
Michael Blank will be lobbying the government to reverse this deeply business-unfriendly move and we urge all ratepayers to do likewise.