Business rate appeals system threatens retailers”, say surveyors

The UK system for appealing against business rate valuations is grinding to a halt, putting retailers at increased risk of financial distress, say surveyors.

The retail panel of the Rating Surveyors’ Association said it has been told that the Valuation Office Agency, which assesses commercial properties for business rates, will commence only 10 more “group pre-challenge reviews” of rating valuations before April.

“We do not believe it is appropriate for retailers, particularly in the current economic climate, to have to sit back in the hope that sometime next year the VOA will potentially be able to find some case workers to handle their appeal,” the panel’s chairman, Robert Sherwill, wrote in an email to panel members earlier this month.

Britain’s retailers are under pressure from rising costs, Brexit uncertainty and the shift to ecommerce. They say the business rates system is unfair and needs radical reform to prevent more store closures.