Andrew Flower, Director at JLL, gave Business News Wales an understanding of the new Business Rates Revaluation, coming in to effect in April 2023. Specialising in business rates advice, Andrew advises both occupiers and landlords on their rates liabilities.

A commercial property’s Rateable Value (RV) is an estimate of the rental value of the property at a given date, set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

In November 2022, the VOA released the draft 2023 Rating List which showed, on average, an increase in the industrial and logistics sector of 27.1%, making this the hardest hit sector.

In the Welsh industrial sector there is an average increase of 12.1%, and an overall increase across all sectors of 1.23%. The main beneficiary of the revaluation being the retail sector where there is an overall reduction in Rateable Value.

Focusing on current occupiers, Andrew explains how, the impending rating revaluation will see the new RVs coming into effect from 1st April 2023 and encourages Ratepayers to review their draft assessment to determine the financial impact and budget accordingly.

Furthermore, if you as an occupier haven’t reviewed your 2017 Rateable Value, you have until the 31st March 2023 to do so. With business rates being the second highest occupational  cost behind rent, time is of the essence to appeal your current assessment and seek backdated savings that could potentially stretch back 6 years.