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Transitional Arrangements

15 July 2010

Following the Revaluation, the Government has published details of the Transitional scheme for the 2010 Rating List. But what exactly is Transition, and how does it affect your rates liability?

The idea behind Revaluation is to ensure fairness of the Rating List. When a Revaluation takes place, there could be extreme rises or falls in value. This may produce disproportionate increases or decreases in rates liabilities, so in the 1990's the Government introduced Transitional arrangements.

Transition is a mechanism to "smooth out" large increases or decreases by giving relief or adding a surcharge to rates bills and thereby producing a more acceptable level of payment.

For the 2010 Rating List, any property with an increase in Rateable Value of more than 31% will benefit from Transitional Relief to phase in this increase. Conversely, any properties which have seen an increase of 11% or less will be affected by Transitional Surcharge, so that a reduction in rates liability will not be immediately noticeable until the property is out of Transition. How long your property is subject to Transition is dependent on the extent of the change in its Rateable Value.

To have your Business Rates demands thoroughly checked by our dedicated Bill Audit team at no extra cost, please contact us on 0800 883 0353.

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