One in seven Rochdale businesses could be overpaying business rates, research claims

More than 1,300 commercial properties in Rochdale could be paying too much in business rates, with potential overpayments worth a combined £2.9 million a year, according to research from business rates intelligence company BusinessRateChecker.com.

The company's analysis examined 8,607 commercial properties in the borough and flagged 1,308 — 15.2% — as potentially over-assessed.

That was the highest proportion of any English local authority area included in BusinessRateChecker's analysis, ahead of Maidstone at 13.8%, Kirklees at 13.7% and Mid Suffolk at 13.7%.

BusinessRateChecker estimates the affected Rochdale properties could have grounds for reductions worth around £2.9 million collectively each year, equivalent to an average potential saving of approximately £2,217 for each property it identified.

However, the findings do not allege wrongdoing by Rochdale Borough Council.

The underlying rateable value of a commercial property is determined by the Valuation Office Agency. Councils then use the relevant rateable value and multiplier when calculating business rates bills.

Rupert Spiegelberg, CEO of BusinessRateChecker.com, told Rochdale Daily that businesses also have a responsibility to ensure the property information being used is accurate.

He said: “It is actually the responsibility of the property owner to update the VOA with changes in details of floor space, floor usage etc. Different RVs are applied to different spaces in a property. Many don't.”

He said larger companies were generally more likely to scrutinise their valuations because they had the resources to employ professional surveyors, while smaller businesses could be less likely to question what they were being charged.

He added: “Large businesses are usually quite up on this and will have the resources to hire surveyors to help them but for smaller businesses like hairdressers, coffee shops etc they tend not to question the bills as much.”

How Rochdale properties were assessed

BusinessRateChecker says its system compares the rate per square metre and zoning rates of individual properties with comparable nearby premises in the same category and valuation scheme.

It then examines factors including comparable rateable values and floor areas to identify properties whose valuations appear materially different from similar premises.

The company says tolerance bands are included to avoid flagging marginal cases.

Spiegelberg also told Rochdale Daily that the 1,308 figure could be an underestimate because some properties cannot be reliably assessed by its system.

Pubs are one example because valuations can depend partly on trading information which BusinessRateChecker does not have access to.

The company's own Rochdale dataset consequently records some properties as unassessable rather than assuming they are being charged correctly.

BusinessRateChecker currently analyses around 1.9 million commercial properties across England, using the published VOA rating list alongside other data to identify properties which may warrant further investigation.

Businesses can check their own property against comparable premises through the company's online checker.

BusinessRateChecker.com — check a property: https://www.businessratechecker.com/check

Source: BusinessRateChecker.com / information supplied directly to Rochdale Daily by CEO Rupert Spiegelberg.