Sanderson Weatherall chartered surveyors is campaigning for a last-minute lifeline
to be thrown to Leeds businesses by arguing that there should be a new allowance
made in local rating assessments that takes into account the oversupply of office
space in the city.
Robert Brown, Head of Rating Services at the Leeds office of Sanderson Weatherall
and a committee member of The Rating Surveyors’ Association, has approached the
Valuation Office Agency to argue for a last minute backdated reduction for hard-pressed
occupiers and owners of Leeds offices before the 31st March 2010 deadline expires.
A similar campaign initiated by the company in 1998 resulted in backdated reductions
worth many thousands of pounds to local businesses and Brown argues that today’s
difficult economic climate warrants similar measures, saying:
“Even though rental values may have increased in the boom, an oversupply of offices
has been created from December 2008 as a result of the recession biting, due to
several prominent new office buildings coming on stream but there being no new
or relocating businesses willing to take them. This is a “material change of
circumstances” that can be taken into account in rating assessments, even though
there was no general rating revaluation actually carried out on that date. We
now need to act very quickly however to protect any businesses that are interested
in taking part in the campaign by submitting urgent appeals.”