Rateable Value

Each commercial property has a rateable value determined by the Valuation Office (part of the Inland Revenue).  The rateable value is a professional view of the annual rent for a property if it were available, vacant and to let on the open market. Rateable values are based on market rents at an earlier valuation date - a date specified by the government.

The law requires that rateable values are re-valued every five years so that the values in the rating list are kept up-to-date.

For the 2010 rating list, which will come into effect on 1 April 2010, the valuation date was 1 April 2008.  

You can find out the rateable value of any business premises in a local authority area from the rating list. This is a public document and can be viewed at the local Valuation Office . You can also look up the rateable value online - and see how it compares to other similar premises by postcode. See http://www.voa.gov.uk/.

If the property is still under construction or newly built, it might not yet have been assessed for rating purposes - so there will be no entry in the rating list. You can request an estimate of its rateable value by contacting your local Valuation Office.