BREAKING NEWS – Key judgment in Telereal Trillium v Hewitt 2019

Telereal Trillium (Respondent) v Hewitt (Valuation Officer) (Appellant) [2019] UKSC 23, On appeal from: [2018] EWCA Civ 26. JUSTICES: Lord Reed (Deputy President), Lord Carnwath, Lady Black, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Briggs. BACKGROUND TO THE APPEAL:... Continue reading

Worst performing UK high streets revealed in latest retail report

Pressure is still increasing on the Government to take action on business rates after the latest national town centre vacancy rate reached 10.2% last month, the highest year on year recorded rate since 2015. The... Continue reading

RSA response to latest Government business rates’ inquiry

By Stuart Hicks, Director  The Rating Surveyors’ Association (RSA) has published its response to the Government’s current inquiry on how business rates policy has impacted business with some interesting recommendations. The latest inquiry was set... Continue reading

Council looking to name and shame firms which dodge business rates

By Stuart Hicks, Director Once again Scotland seems to be leading the way in new business rate policies with Glasgow City Council looking to adopt a policy of naming and shaming companies that avoid paying... Continue reading

Rates mitigation schemes that rely on charitable occupation questioned

By Stuart Hicks, Director An interesting issue has been examined by Walker J in My Community Space v Ipswich BC [2018] EWHC 3313 (Admin). Ipswich Borough Council said that the occupations by registered charity My... Continue reading

Two-tier rates’ system to help retailers could cause headache for other sectors

By Stuart Hicks, Director Last week saw business rates rise again, with the multiplier increasing to 50.4p in the pound – a hit many companies could do without and pretty much every retail lobbyist out there... Continue reading