From April, the business rates revaluation will result in thousands of Teesside businesses seeing a change in the Rateable Values (RV) of their properties, and how much they therefore pay in business rates.

The new valuation list has been published and ratepayers can now view their 2023 business rates valuation. As with all previous revaluations, there are winners and losers.

Overall, retail properties have seen a decrease in RVs between the 2017 and 2023 rating lists, largely due to a shift in consumer behaviour from the traditional high street to online sales.

This change was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic and department stores will see reductions in RV of up to 45 per cent.

There are exceptions, with smaller retail units and convenience stores experiencing an increase in RV of around 10 per cent.

Pubs and licensed restaurants, who have also suffered a fall in trade over the last three years, will on average see a fall in their RVs of 20 per cent.

Coupled with the promise of further retail/leisure relief in the 2023 ratings list, retail and leisure operators will generally see decreases in their rates liability from April 1, 2023, but that is not to say that the reduced RV is correct.

It will not come as a surprise to many that the RV of industrial properties will increase from April 1,2023, with logistics warehouses seeing the largest average increases of around 35 per cent.

This is due to the growth of the industrial market between 2015 and 2021, bolstered by the switch of retail from the high street to online facilitating and the growth of companies such as Amazon.

Specialist property classes such as football stadia and education will also increase in the 2023 rating list.

One piece of good news for ratepayers in the 2023 rating list is that there will be no downwards transition.

In previous rating lists, properties that saw large decreases in RV often did not see the actual monetary benefits of the reduction until years three or four of the rating list, due to transitional arrangements.

The removal of downwards phasing means that ratepayers will see the immediate benefit of a reduction in RV from April 1, 2023. The business rates multiplier has also been frozen at 0.512 (0.499 for small business). Without this measure being implemented the business rates multiplier would have risen by around 10 per cent, in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

For any queries or further information regarding your 2023 Business Rates Valuation, please contact one of SW’s experienced business rates team.