The Valuation Office Agency and Local Authorities Working together - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Valuation Office Agency and Local Authorities Working together to support the Rates Retention Scheme [Name] [role] Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

What is the Valuation Office Agency? • Central Government Executive Agency • Professional property valuations: – 1.8 million non-domestic ‘rateable values’ for Non- domestic rates* *VOA Annual Report 2011-12 – 24.3 million domestic council tax bands* – housing allowances for over 150 market areas* – Property valuations for HMRC tax purposes – Property valuations and advice for over 2,200 public sector organisations including LAs Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

How we are organised • 72 offices, primarily in England and Wales • Non-domestic rates business stream works in 8 regional units under the direction of a Valuation Officer (VO) • Each VO prepares & maintains Rating Lists for Billing Authorities in his/her region • National Specialists Unit assists 1. North West 2. North East with utilities, transport etc. 3. Wales 4. Central 5. East 6. South West 7. London 8. South East Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

BAs NDR base – what is rateable? • Tax on occupation • All properties neither domestic nor exempt – Shops, offices, factories and warehouses – Oil refineries, power stations – Government and LA property – Petrol filling stations, cinemas, pubs, sports stadia – Advertising rights, ATM ‘holes in the wall’, public conveniences, beach huts Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

How do we value? • Rateable value is the VO’s assessment of the rental value as at 1 April 2008 • Gather and analyse rental evidence and property information to set rateable values • In some cases we use trading receipts to establish rateable value… • …in others we use building and land costs • Aim is always to establish annual rental value Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

What the VOA does • Revaluation: regular updating of all RVs • Maintenance: updating lists for changes • Challenges: reviewing ratepayers’ queries and formal proposals against their RVs Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Revaluation • The five-yearly revaluation maintains fairness in the rating system by redistributing liabilities according to any differential movement in values that has occurred in the market over the five-year period • Has taken place regularly since 1990 • Next revaluation comes into effect on 1 April 2015, based on values at 1 April 2013 Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Why are rates based on an earlier date? • Date fixed two years in advance to ensure that information to support the valuation process is available • Common date ensures fairness and is the same for all ratepayers • Rates bill depends on relativities across all rateable values at valuation date, not on changes in the rental market between the valuation date and the effective date Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Ensuring accuracy • Use wide range of evidence of actual rents paid in the market • Research the rental market • Valuations carried out at local level • Valuation date is just the point to identify relativities • Starting to collate evidence for Revaluation 2015 Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Maintaining the Rating Lists • VOs have a statutory duty to maintain accurate and fair lists • VOs will alter an entry in a list if – we receive new information which indicates the assessment requires reviewing – there are physical changes to the property or locality which would change the rental value • Alterations can mean an increase or a decrease in RV or create more/fewer assessments Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

The type of physical changes • Can be specific to a property: – new property being added, existing property being extended, changing use, merged, split or demolished • Can be specific to a locality: – new local facilities, pedestrianisation, new developments, oversupply • Can be temporary: – major roadworks Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

The impact of physical changes • Ranges from affecting a single property to affecting many properties • Examples – A café acquiring land and adding external seating may only affect that property’s RV – The opening of a large new shopping centre may have an impact not only on adjacent shops but also on other shopping centres further afield Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

The Appeals process • If ratepayers believe our valuation is wrong they can – check their valuations with us informally – make formal proposals (appeal) on a range of grounds • Formal proposals can be agreed between VO and ratepayer or taken to independent Valuation Tribunal Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

The Appeals process - timescales • We make a decision within two months on appeals about – physical changes to the property – changes in occupation – Exemptions from assessment • We also give priority to proposals citing financial hardship Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

The Appeals process - outcomes • Outcome of a proposal can be: – No change to the list – Alteration (down or up) to the appellant’s RV – Alteration (down or up) to similar properties' RVs in the locality • Around 75% of all proposals/ appeals on the 2010 lists have resulted in no change* *as at end March 2012 Source: Local Rating Lists: Challenges 2010 and 2005 Local Rating Lists Table 5.5, May 2012 release Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Helping the VOA maintain accurate lists • Billing authorities can help us in our work: – Identifying new properties – Identifying changes to properties and localities – Providing BA reference numbers – Using EBARs service (electronic BA reports) – Providing occupier lists – Providing rent schedules on LA estates – Serving completion notices Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Working together • SLAs already exist with most BAs • VOA started early planning for Rates Retention (working party December 2011) • VOA is appointing Relationship Managers to liaise with all LAs on Rates Retention – Will be main point of contact – Will proactively improve the quality and quantity of data exchanged with LAs – Will provide factual information Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

VOA Official Statistics • VOA’s Analytical Services section • Includes a small team responsible for: – Official Statistics releases – FOIs and PQs – policy support • Analytical Services provided support to DCLG at earlier stages of policy development Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Existing VOA Official Statistics • Statistical releases began in 2010 • Evolving towards more user-focused, ‘thematic’ outputs • New appeals release expands on and consolidates existing releases • All releases produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics – Integral to Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Code of Practice Official Statistics • Meeting customer needs (principle 1) – More frequent and timely data on appeals by LA • Sound methods and assured quality (principle 4) – Forecasts of appeals to be cleared out of scope • Resources (principle 7) – Not everything desirable may be possible initially • Frankness and accessibility (principle 8) – Use of maps planned to aid accessibility – Bespoke analysis is not possible but we’ll listen Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Existing statistics - RV Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Existing statistics: appeals Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

Existing statistics: changes Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

New Business Rates statistical release • New quarterly release commencing 20 Sept • Experimental release • By administrative area quarterly • Average RV at stake (unresolved) or RV change (cleared) • Average time unresolved or taken to clear • For 2005 and 2010 lists Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk

More information • Questions? • voa.gov.uk/corporate/publications/statistics • statistics@voa.gsi.gov.uk - dedicated e-mail box for statistical queries Valuation Office Agency www.voa.gov.uk