What are Business Rates?
Business Rates are a tax on the right to occupy commercial property and typically equate to approximately 50% of annual rent. As such, they represent one of the largest overheads for businesses and substantially impact on the profitability of many organisations.
How are Business Rates calculated?
Business Rates are calculated by multiplying the Rateable Value (RV) of a property by the Uniform Business Rates (UBR). The RV is the Valuation Office’s estimate of a property’s market rent at a set valuation date. We are currently in the 2023 Rating List with Rateable Values being based on a valuation date of 1st April 2021.
How we can help?
Since Business Rates are based on the Valuation Office’s estimate of the annual rental of a property, the calculation is open to challenge. The Knight Frank Business Rates team consists of both Chartered Surveyors and Rate Payment and Audit Specialists, drawing on over 50 years of experience in managing the complexities of the rating system. Our role is to actively seek to reduce your rate liabilities, ultimately placing your company in a better financial position.
What we do?
In simple terms, we use our experience and knowledge of the rating system to mitigate your rate liabilities. The areas of work are identified as follows:
Challenge and Appeal
Our rating experts can advise if there are grounds to challenge your Rateable Value and guide you through the complex appeal procedures introduced for the 2017 Rating List. To initiate this process, ratepayers need to register on the Government Gateway website.
Rate Payment and Council Tax Management
We provide a full service for the payment and management of your rates for large or small portfolios together with all the necessary rating advice, supporting financial data and reporting.
Empty Rates Mitigation
In the event you are vacating a property or taking a phased occupation, we can help to ensure you benefit from the maximum amount of relief. In some instances, we can mitigate your liability by securing successive periods of relief.
Disturbance Refunds
If your business is being affected by a nearby development, we can help you apply for rates relief and lodge appeals citing a material change in circumstance. The reduction will be applied for the period of the disturbance.
Rate Audit
We can review all the historic payments back to 1990 to check your rate demands have been correctly calculated and claim any overpaid refunds.