The impact of the 1995 rating revaluation on commercial property Available to Purchase

The current business rate system came into force in 1990,introducing a non‐domestic rating multiplier across England and Wales and committing the Government to five‐yearly revaluations. Rateable values are based on rental levels and, at the 1990 revaluation, office occupiers in London and the South East recorded huge increases in their rate liabilities, while occupiers in the North had their rate bills decreased quite significantly. In the five years since the last revaluation there has been a downturn in both the UK economy and in the property market. Calculates an estimate for the multiplier, examines how rental values have changed between the revaluation dates and what impact this has on the geographical distribution of rate liabilities and the shifting burden between the sectors.