The law says that there must be a revaluation every five years. Rateable values are based on rents, which are subject to change. Regular revaluations are needed. This is to ensure that rateable values are kept in line with market conditions.
On 1 April 2008 the Valuation Office began the process of revising rateable values. This process is known as a revaluation and involves gathering comprehensive and reliable information about rents from across the country. This process takes into account the precise location of a property, the size and local market rentals and takes two years to complete. On 1 April 2010 new rating lists of up-to-date rateable values for the 1.7m non-domestic properties in England and Wales came into effect. These reflected the market conditions of 1 April 2008.
After a revaluation your rateable value could go up or down or stay the same. If it goes up this does not mean that your rates bill will necessarily increase. The rates bill is calculated by multiplying the rateable value against the poundage.
Transitional arrangements
Transitional arrangements will phase in the effect of significant changes in liability. These arise from the 2010 revaluation of non-domestic property. Where appropriate, these arrangements will operate until March 2015. All non-domestic property will be revalued again in 2015. There are limits on the percentage by which bills may increase and decrease each year. Special rules deal with changes in rateable value and the merger or splitting of existing properties.
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