Ad hoc collection of data on unoccupied properties that are liable for Non-domestic rates

AD HOC COLLECTION OF DATA ON UNOCCUPIED PROPERTIES THAT ARE LIABLE FOR NON-DOMESTIC RATES

Context

1. Following the Chancellor’s Spring Budget commitment, on 6 July the government published a joint consultation with HMT on Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion. The consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/business-rates-avoidance-and-evasion-consultation

2. We have previous evidence that business rates avoidance is primarily focused on the avoidance of empty property rates through the abuse of the empty property rate relief scheme. The LGA survey can be found at https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/business-rates-avoidance

3. However, we have a gap in our understanding from our regular data collection exercises and so, to support the consultation exercise and improve the evidence base, we need to better understand the level of rates collected on empty properties, number of empty properties paying rates and frequency of properties claiming empty property rate relief.

4. A paper was put to the CLIP-F meeting in July 2023 proposing that a voluntary data collection exercise would run during August to gather this data and, subject to the results of the consultation and data collection exercise, consider whether this should be included in the annual NNDR forms in the future.

DELTA collection

5. A DELTA form (‘emptyprop-2022-23-aug’) has been launched and will be available for all billing authorities to complete by Friday 1 September.

6. The form asks whether the data being provided is sourced from actual data or has been estimated, so that we can understand the quality of the data being provided.

7. The form is split into three units to collect data on the amount of rates collected, the number of empty properties paying rates and frequency of the use of empty property relief. More details are contained in Annex A.

8. Sense checks have been included in the form to minimise follow up queries once the data has been submitted. We do not need explanations as to why the figures are different, but authorities should check that they are confident that the data are correct before submitting.

9. This exercise is being run on a voluntary basis, but we would be grateful for as many returns as possible. If you are unable to provide all the data without additional cost burdens, then we will accept partially completed returns.

10. If you have not received a notification or cannot see the form in DELTA submissions, then please check your DELTA account and make sure that ‘council tax and non-domestic rates (qrc1-4)’ is selected.

11. If you do not have a DELTA account, please go to the DELTA homepage (https://delta.communities.gov.uk/login) and create your account.

12. If you have any questions, please send them to nndr.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk with the subject heading ‘Empty property ad hoc data collection exercise’

Yours faithfully,

Jo Coleman

Team Leader, Local Tax data collection

 

Ad hoc data collection exercise on empty business properties

Billing authorities are asked to provide the following data on a voluntary basis by Friday 1 September.

The data collection exercise is being run in DELTA and the data needs only to be submitted.

Quality statement

In order to understand the quality of the data, you are asked to state whether the data that you have provided is sourced from actual data or has been estimated. This has been broken down by the type of data being sought as we are aware that this may be different.

Data

(A) Rates data

Line 1: The amount that has been collected in 2022-23, in respect of the 2022-23 liability, from occupied properties. This should be reported as a whole number in £s.

Line 2: The amount of data that has been collected in 2022-23, in respect of the 2022-23 liability, from unoccupied properties. This should be reported as a whole number in £s.

A warning message will appear if this amount is greater than 25% of the total amount collected. Please check that this is correct before submitting.

Line 3: This is a calculated value. This is the sum of line 1 and line 2.

An information message will appear if this amount is more or less than 20% of the amount that was reported in Line 4 of the 2022-23 QRC4. This is just a sense check to ensure that the total calculated value is in line with data that has previously been submitted, and to minimise the risk that incorrect units have been used. This may be different to the data due to timing and system differences.

(B) Hereditaments data

Line 4: Number of unoccupied properties that are paying rates as at 31 March 2023. This should be reported in whole numbers. If it is not possible to provide actual data, then a snapshot taken as close as possible to the 31 March 2023 will be acceptable.

An information message will appear if this number is more than 25% than the number of hereditaments on the VOA list in November 2022, which was used included in the 2023-24 NNDR1. This is just a sense check to ensure that the value is in line with other data that we have.

Line 5: Number of unoccupied properties that are receiving Empty Property Relief as at 31 March 2023. This should be reported in whole numbers. If it is not possible to provide actual data, then a snapshot taken as close as possible to the 31 March 2023 will be acceptable.

A warning message will appear if this number is lower or higher by 15% or more compared to the hereditaments figure provided in the supplementary table in the 2023-24 NNDR1. Please check that the figure is correct before submitting.

(C) Frequency of empty property relief

We are aware that this data may not be as readily available as the data in parts (A) and (B). If you are unable to provide this data without additional cost, and that it cannot be easily estimated, please indicate this as a ‘No’ before leaving the cells blank. This will mean that we will not need to check that this part was not left unintentionally blank.

Line 6: Number of properties claiming Empty Property Relied on 31 March 2023 that had previously claimed the relief within the 2022-23 financial year.

An error message will appear if the number is greater than the figure reported in Line 5 as this will should not exceed the number of properties claiming Empty Property Relief. Please correct this figure before submitting.

Line 7: Number of properties claiming Empty Property Relied on 31 March 2023 that have claimed more than twice within the 2022-23 financial year.

An error message will appear if the number is greater than the figure in Line 6 as this should not be possible. Please correct this figure before submitting.