Empty Property Mitigation Service
Appeal My Rates UK
What happens if a property is empty?
In this case the council charges unoccupied rate instead of occupied rates. A number of years ago the unoccupied rate used to be lower than the occupied rate but they are now the same so you pay the same rates in both cases. The big difference is that unoccupied properties cannot get any of the reliefs or discounts available such as small business or retail relief.
What happens when my property becomes empty after it was occupied?
In this case the unoccupied rate is applied but if the prior occupation was more than 13 weeks you can apply for a short exemption from rates. This is three months for non industrial properties such as shops and offices and six months for industrial properties like warehouses and factories. When the exemption period is over full rates become payable. There have been many schemes launched over recent years to avoid unoccupied rates by placing fake tenants in the property for the qualifying period and then claiming the exemption and repeating after the exemption period is over again but these have had serious challenges in the high courts. This is known as an intermittent occupation rates mitigation. Many other schemes have been tried over the years such as using charities as tenants, putting bluetooth transmitters on site, installing property guardians on site and even snail farms! Most have these have faced challenges in the courts and will continue to do so so using one of these will carry some risk.
Are there any cases where a longer exemption can be applied for?
Yes, there are a limited number of circumstances where a property can be exempt from the unoccupied rate. If you are prevented by law from occupation you will be exempt for example. This could be where the building is unsafe or hazardous and you have been issued with a prohibition notice but there are quite a few other circumstances where this exemption can occur. Call us for advice and if you have a case we will propose a fee based on savings in rates payable to represent you with the council.
Rates Mitigation Service
We have developed a completely safe and lawful service that will stand up to scrutiny from your local authority and is more robust than standard intermittent occupation schemes in the market at present. Our fees are linked to savings in rates payable and we mange the service from start to finish with only minimal input from our clients at set up stage. The scheme is not a “one size fits all” model and will be tailored to your specific needs.
Property developers, investors and other commercial landlords that have empty properties face huge financial burdens from business rates and from April next year the mulitplier for properties wuth a rateable value of over £500,000 will increase, making the burden even greater. It is therefore imperative to adopt a scheme that maximises savings within the law, that is robust, allows flexibility for the landlord and requires minimal effort on the part of the landlord to operate.
To find out if our scheme can work for you please contact us for a free consultation or use the contact form to request a call back.
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