2007 Executive Review of Rating Reform

Following the restoration of devolution the Executive undertook a Review of the new domestic rating system introduced by direct rule Ministers in April 2007. Further information on the background to the Review is available on this website. The Review made a number of recommendations and some of these (such as the lone pensioner allowance and a reduction in the maximum capital value) have already been implemented.Other measures will be given effect through new legislation, some of which is currently being taken forward. These measures include –

The Rating of Empty Homes;

A rates Deferment Scheme for Home Owning Pensioners;

Additional data sharing powers; and

Green Rebates.

Energy Efficiency Homes Scheme and Low Carbon Homes Scheme

Details of consultations that were undertaken in these areas, along with an overview of the consultation responses, as well as Ministerial decisions on the changes that are to be made to the system can be found

the domestic rating system taken forward under direct rule was the establishment of a new Northern Ireland Valuation Tribunal service to handle valuation challenges from ratepayers following the revalluation in 2007.

Now that these have been dealt with, it has been decided to review the whole process including valuation reviews undertaken by Land Property Services  to ensure it both meets the needs of domesitc ratepayers and provides good value for money in doing so.

The Review will be carried out later in 2009 and will be informed by an initial  study unde

in the Consultation Report on the Review of domestic rating.pdf(496KB) published earlier this year.

A factsheet on the rates deferment scheme can be found here.

One outcome of the previous  review of rtaken by the International Property Tax Institute, quality assured by the Consumers Council of NI.

In light of the continuing economic downturn, Finance Minister Sammy Wilson announced his decision to postpone the non-domestic rating revaluation on 23 September.

The postponements are a consequence of the economic downturn which is affecting both commercial and domestic ratepayers. The non domestic revaluation has been deferred until April 2011 and the preferred option is to postpone the rating of empty homes to April 2011 also.

Non-domestic revaluation is intended to re-distribute the rating burden more fairly based on up to date rental values. In normal times this process works well but, given all the factors influencing the economic climate at present, it was considered best to delay the revaluation exercise both in the interests of commercial rate payers and also local councils who need certainty in the revenue available to them.

Regarding the rating of empty homes the Minister has decided that it would be prudent not to introduce this in April 2010 having taken the views of the Finance and Personnel Committee. The rating of empty homes has been postponed until April 2011 and will be kept under review.

Non Domestic Sector

A revaluation of the non domestic sector will take place in 2011.

A consultation has taken place on the new capitalisation rate to be applied to around 16,000 specialised properties at the revaluation. Details can be found here.

The Department had intended to make legislation in late 2009 to provide that plant and machinery meeting the definition of "microgeneration capacity" would not be assessed for rating purposes for the duration of the valuation list. However it has now been decided to postpone the making of the legislation so that it will coincide with the Non Domestic revaluation in 2011. In that way the legislation will be aligned with the list and be effective for the full duration of the list.

A letter which previously issued to the relevant representative organisations, including the Northern Ireland Local Government Association, explained the changes which we now intend to make in 2011.

The Minister announced on 15 December 2008 that a Small Business Rate Relief Scheme would be introduced for Northern Ireland.

The department has undertaken a consultation around the initial integrated impact assessment (IIA) which has been carried out in relation to the planned scheme  The consultation ended on Tuesday 23 June 2009. Details of the scheme and the results of the initial analysis are available here.

A short consultation report, which summarises the views of those who responded to the consultation, can be found here.

Subordinate legislation is now being prepared with the intention of introducing the scheme in April 2010. Fact Sheets on the main scheme(161KB) and the enhancement for Post Offices(155KB) have been distributed to key stakeholders explaining the scheme in more detail.

The changes above require new legislation, which was recently passed by the NI Assembly.

The Rates (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009 received Royal Assent on 3 November and gives effect to high level policy decisions that were agreed to by the Executive in late 2007 and which were consulted on during 2008. The Act also provides for some additional measures and amendments in relation to the non domestic sector.

Many of the measures will require subordinate legislation to be made in early 2010, work on which is currently progressing.

The measures contained in the Act include -

A full version of the Act (to amend the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977) and explanatory notes to accompany the Act can be found at the OPSI website http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/northernireland/acts/ni-acts2009a