Northern Ireland businesses urged to participate in a rates revaluation exercise to help inform future bills

Finance Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA has urged local businesses to participate in a rates revaluation exercise to help inform future bills.

Reval2026 letters are due to arrive at businesses over the coming weeks, inviting them to submit rental and other market evidence to Land & Property Services (LPS).

The information will contribute to the creation of a new non-domestic valuation list which will be used for the calculation of business rates from April 2026.

Minister Archibald said: “This year local businesses have contributed around £690 million in rates which helps fund vital public services including education, emergency services, leisure facilities, tourism and waste management.

“Reval2026 provides businesses an opportunity to have their say and ensure the accuracy and fairness of their bills in the new valuation list. The overall amount raised through rates will not change directly as a result of Reval2026. A revaluation is about maintaining fairness within the rating system and to do this we need up-to-date information.

“I encourage all business ratepayers to reply to LPS requests for information in relation to Reval2026. Completing the questionnaire is simple and Land & Property Services has experienced valuers available to help any business owner who needs advice.”

The deadline to complete and return the Rent and Lease questionnaire is 30 June 2024. Businesses are encouraged to act now and return the information requested. The easiest way for businesses to submit their information is online and by visiting here.

Reacting to the Launch of Reval 2026, Colin Neill, chief executive, Hospitality said: “We welcome Reval26 as the rates revaluation exercise to inform future non-domestic bills and acknowledge the greater frequency of the Reval process in general.”

“Whilst this is an important consultative period to bring forward the draft list of values, it is vital to recognise that the rating model for much of the hospitality sector remains out of kilter with other businesses as it is based on a ‘receipts and expenditure’ model. This means that a fictional rentable value is suggested, calculated from turnover which leaves many licensed premises paying, on average, 34% more rates that other more profitable sectors - unlike other non-domestic rates calculations, which are based on actual rental value.

“Recent surveys of our members show that rates come out as a significant financial burden time and time again. This is on top of the ever-increasing costs that are squeezing margins, threatening to put many out of business. We as a sector continue to pay the highest business rates in the UK and are getting very little in terms of support.

“Alongside the revaluation, the NI Assembly must act to cap excessive district rates introduced by local councils, which make any efforts by the NI Executive to keep the regional rate low pointless. Only last month we called for a cap on council district rates which had hikes of up to 12% in some council areas.

“We must use this Reval26 as an opportunity to shape better outcomes for business owners in the hospitality sector and revise the formula used to calculate the receipts and expenditure model to provide a fair and equitable system.”