Business rates: Relief for the owners of empty properties

Dean Monk examines the case of Rossendale, a Court of Appeal decision approving steps taken by property owners to mitigate their business rates liability ‘While the Supreme Court was unanimous on the “evasion” principle, it was divided on whether the principle could be expanded in the future. The billing authorities sought to exploit this by …
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2019 in real estate: Future gazing

Rebecca Francis, Colette Krawczyk and Chris Lee take a look at the key areas of development for real estate practitioners for 2019 ‘Decisions in each of these areas will provide for increased market certainty and should help to unlock many of the current issues in dispute between landowners and operators.’ While Brexit is likely to …
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Business rates: A welcome relief

Do ATMs amount to hereditaments for the purposes of business rates? A recent decision may provide good news to retailers and ATM operators, as Bryan Johnston and Ross Wilson discover ‘While the listing of an individual ATM may not be in the grand scheme significant, when the actual number of ATMs affected is considered, the …
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Business Rates: Geography, function and objective necessity

Bryan Johnston and Alexa Phoenix consider a new approach to domestic rates following a recent Supreme Court decision ‘Ratepayers with two or more floors in a single building will likely be liable for more business rates than if the various demises had been treated as a single hereditament.’In Woolway v Mazars [2015], the Supreme Court …
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