Negotiating business rates savings of £150K for H&R Johnson Tiles

H&R Johnson Tiles showroom in London that is located on Great Titchfield Street had the potential to negotiate a business rates saving due to development works taking place on the neighbouring property.

How we helped

Following notification that development works were taking place we carried out a site inspection of the subject showroom to document the works. Subsequently we submitted an appeal seeking a reduction in the Rateable Value to take account of the disturbance.

While conducting our assessment of the property we realised that there may be the potential for a party wall claim in relation to the development of the neighbouring property and brought in our building consultancy team to make a further assessment.

Outcome

After lengthy negotiations we submitted a Statement of Case to the Valuation Tribunal and subsequently were able to settle the case with the Valuation Office. Our strongly argued case enabled us to secure a reduction in the Rateable Value of 12.075% for the duration of the disturbance which resulted in significant savings for H&R Johnson Tiles. Furthermore, our building consultancy team were also successful in obtaining a party wall claim from the developers.

During our work with H&R Johnson Tiles on its London showroom it came to light that they also had a pottery in Stoke On Trent. Their previous advisers had recommended that there were no grounds to appeal the business rates assessment on the pottery and advised H&R Johnson to accept the general level of values adopted by the Valuation Office Agency. However, as the property was the largest in the area we thought that there was an opportunity to make a challenge.

We were unable to persuade the Valuation Officer to agree to a reduction in the assessment by negotiation and therefore submitted a Statement of Case to the Valuation Tribunal. However, we subsequently were able to reach a satisfactory settlement resulting in savings in excess of £150,000.