Rate decision delays cost Manchester firms £9.5m
DELAYS in processing business rate appeals are costing Manchester businesses over £9.5 million per year, according to business rates consultancy CVS.
The company has said that there is a backlong of more than 18,500 appeals against business ratings in the North West, of which 4,225 relate to Manchester firms.
It is arguing that as a result tens of thousands of businesses are paying too much rates and are unable to retrieve the money due to the slow rate of dealing with appeals.
At the VOA’s current rate of performance appeals against 2010’s rating decisions could take a further 2.4 years to clear.
A Freedom of Information Request obtained by a member of the Voice of Rochdale Independents – a group set up to campaign on behalf of the town’s independent retailers – found that of the 1,080 businesses which challenged their rating during the 2010/11 financial year, only 30 cases were dealt with.
Across Greater Manchester, just 520 (4%) of the 13,100 appeals were dealth with during the year.
Paul Turner-Mitchell, who owns the 25ten boutique in Rochdale, said business rates were “a long-standing bugbear”.
“In my own experience, I have seen my business’s rateable value increase by 61 per cent in the last year.
“Town centre businesses in Rochdale, for example, have had to stomach an average 25 per cent increase. It’s no wonder that owners are angry. These revaluations simply do not reflect rates that are passing between tenants and landlords.
“That many are lodging challenges is hardly surprising. But here’s the rub. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is taking so long to process challenges that businesses are folding while waiting for the outcome.”
Don Baker, National Head of Rating at CVS, said: “The VOA’s speed of processing business rate appeals is unacceptably slow. At the moment, businesses need all the revenue they can get and the VOA’s inefficiency is penalising companies unfairly.”
Riaz Nawaz, an independent furniture retailer from Manchester, said: “In this economic climate independent business owners like me need all the help we can get. I can appreciate the VOA want to complete their appeals correctly, but the length of time to wait is just crazy.
“Firms who have paid too much rates should have that money returned to them. That’s fair and equitable and will help SME businesses support the growth agenda the Government is keen to push.”
Simon Graveley, managing director at Trafford Park-based timber merchants Illingworth Ingham, said: “Our business rates have risen significantly over the past year and are a major annual cost to us.
“All we want to do is to pay the right amount of rates but these delays mean I have to keep paying over the odds for years at a time. The delays are hurting my ability to invest in my business.”
