Non-domestic rating: challenges and changes statistical commentary
Published 1 February 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-challenges-and-changes-2017-and-2023-rating-lists-december-2023/non-domestic-rating-challenges-and-changes-statistical-commentary
About this release:
This release includes statistics on challenges made by ratepayers (or their representatives) against the England and Wales 2023 non-domestic rating (NDR) lists, which came into effect on 1 April 2023. It continues to include statistics relating to challenges made against the 2017 non-domestic rating lists while numbers remain at a significant level.
It also includes statistics on reviews of rating assessments (known as “reports”) that have either been initiated by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) or a billing authority when new information becomes available. We propose removing statistics on assessment reviews from our August 2024 release onwards, see note in the details section of the landing page for further information.
These statistics do not include the number of appeals registered under the Check, Challenge, Appeal (CCA) system because these are the responsibility of the independent Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) in England and Valuation Tribunal for Wales (VTW) in Wales, both of which publish their latest statistics on their respective websites. However, these statistics do include the outcome, changes to the list made by VOA as a result of appeals.
Responsible statistician
Anna McReady
Statistical enquiries
Date of next publication
May 2024
1.CCA and non-CCA cases in England
1.1. CCA England cases raised against the 2023 rating list:
Figure 1: Checks and Challenges in England against the 2023 rating list from 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2023 local rating list, England and Wales, Table EW23_1_1
Figure 1 shows that 45,610 Checks have been registered since the start of the 2023 rating list (1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023). Of these, 35,180 have been resolved, and 10,440 remain outstanding.
Some of the resolved Checks will progress to Challenge and as such 4,480 Challenges have been registered since the start of the 2023 rating list (1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023). Of these, 430 have been resolved, 390 have been marked incomplete (does not contain all the detail required in legislation) and 3,650 remain outstanding.
Figure 2: Checks against the England 2023 rating list by case status and month, 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2023 local rating list, England, Table EW23_3_2
In the latest quarter (October to December 2023), 14,660 Checks were registered, down from 19,730 the quarter before and 16,380 Checks were resolved, up from 14,450 the quarter before. The number of Checks received against the 2023 list is considerably higher than those received in the first six months of the 2017 list. This is because CCA was introduced as a new system in 2017 and it took ratepayers time to become familiar with the process. Although the number of Checks received at the start of the 2017 list were low, they did increase over time.
Figure 3: Challenges against the England 2023 rating list by case status and month, 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2023 local rating list, England, Table EW23_3_2
In the latest quarter (October to December 2023), 2,000 Challenges were registered, up from 1,780 the quarter before and 250 Challenges were resolved, up from 150 the quarter before. Challenges take longer to clear as it is necessary to exchange and discuss evidence with ratepayers. There is a statutory deadline of 18 months to clear Challenge cases.
1.2. CCA England cases raised against the 2017 list:
The 2017 rating list closed on 31 March 2023, however there are still cases progressing through the CCA process where ratepayers submitted Checks before the list closed.
Figure 4: Checks and Challenges in England against the 2017 rating list from 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, England, Table E17_1_1
Figure 4 shows that 848,300 Checks have been registered since the start of the 2017 rating list (1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023). Of these, 846,790 have been resolved and 1,510 remain outstanding.
Some of the resolved Checks will progress to Challenge and as such 185,160 Challenges have been registered since the start of the 2017 rating list (1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023). Of these, 132,460 have been resolved, 21,580 have been marked incomplete and 31,120 remain outstanding.
Figure 5: Checks against the England 2017 NDR list by case status and month, 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, England, Table E17_2_1
Figure 5 shows the number of Checks registered and resolved each month. There was a large spike in Checks registered from January to March 2023 due to an increase in the number of ratepayers submitting Checks prior to the 2017 list closure on 31 March 2023. As a consequence Checks resolved then rose in April 2023 and remained high up to June 2023. From 1 April 2023, when the 2017 list was closed, new Checks against the 2017 list can be registered in limited circumstances only.
In the latest quarter (October to December 2023), 150 Checks were registered, up from 70 the quarter before and 5,960 Checks were resolved, down from 10,730 the quarter before.
Figure 6: Challenges against the England 2017 NDR list by case status and month, 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, England, Table E17_2_1
In the latest quarter (October to December 2023), 6,040 Challenges were registered and 10,320 Challenges were resolved.
Figure 7: Resolved CCA cases by case type and outcome against the England 2017 NDR list, 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, England, Table E17_3_1
Figure 7 compares the proportion of resolved Check, Challenge and Appeal cases which resulted in a rateable value (RV) increase, decrease, or no change.
For Checks, 79% result in no change to RV, 19% result in a decrease and 2% result in an increase to RV.
For Challenges, 65% result in no change to RV, 34% result in a decrease and 0.5% result in an increase to RV.
For Appeals, 39% result in no change to RV, 61% result in a decrease and 0.1% result in an increase to RV.
1.3. Non-CCA England cases raised against the 2010 rating list
As volumes have reached a sufficiently low level, the VOA has taken the decision to stop producing excel tables on the 2010 list.
The number of appeals outstanding for the 2010 list was 300 at 31 December 2023, down from 750 at the end of the previous quarter. This represents a steady decline over the past year, down from 4,850 outstanding appeals at 31 December 2022 in England. These outstanding appeals now make up a very small proportion (less than 1%) of those outstanding at the close of the 2010 list.
Outstanding appeals include those awaiting listing, re-listing or decisions from the Valuation Tribunal which are outside of the VOA’s statutory responsibility. There are also some highly complex cases relating to specialist properties where a longer time frame is necessary to settle the appeals.
2. CCA and non-CCA cases in Wales
2.1. CCA Wales cases raised against the 2023 list
Figure 8: Checks and Challenges in Wales against the 2023 rating list from 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2023 local rating list, England and Wales, Table EW23_1_1
Figure 8 shows that 1,130 Checks have been registered since the start of the 2023 rating list (1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023). Of these, 830 have been resolved, and 300 remain outstanding.
Some of the resolved Checks will progress to Challenge and as such 80 Challenges have been registered since the start of the 2023 rating list (1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023). Of these, 10 have been resolved, 10 have been marked incomplete, and 60 remain outstanding.
2.2. Non-CCA Wales challenges raised against the 2017 rating list
The 2017 rating list closed on 31 March 2023, however there are cases that have been submitted and have not yet been resolved. For Wales, a challenge is defined as a proposal by the ratepayer to alter the rating list, typically attributable to a challenge to the assessed rateable value or a change of circumstance of the property as well as physical changes in the locality.
Figure 9: Non-CCA challenges in Wales against the 2017 rating list from 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023
Source: Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, Wales, Tables W17_1_1, W17_1_2 and W17_1_3
Figure 9 shows that 42,290 challenges have been registered since the start of the 2017 rating list in Wales (1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023). Of these, 37,920 have been resolved, and 4,370 remain outstanding.
Figure 10: Non-CCA challenges against the Wales 2017 NDR list by case status and month, 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, Wales, Tables W17_1_1 and W17_1_2
Figure 10 shows the number of challenges received against the Wales 2017 list by quarter. There were 60 challenges registered in the latest quarter (October to December), up from 30 last quarter, and 1,990 challenges resolved in the latest quarter, up from 1,410 last quarter.
2.3. Non-CCA Wales cases raised against the 2010 rating list
The number of appeals outstanding for the 2010 list at 31 December 2023 was 80, holding at the same level as 80 at the end of the previous quarter. These include those awaiting listing, re-listing, or decisions from the Valuation Tribunal which are outside of the VOA’s statutory responsibility, and also some highly complex cases relating to specialist properties where a longer time frame is necessary to settle the appeals.
3. Customer registrations and property claims for the CCA system
Before anyone can access more detailed valuation data about a property, they must prove that they have a legal interest in the property under the non-domestic rating legislation, for example, as an owner or occupier or both. To do this, they are required to register to use the CCA system and then can ‘claim their property’ through the VOA’s online service by providing proof of their relationship to the property, such as a copy of a business rates or utility bill. Once the VOA confirm the interested person’s relationship to the property, the claim is approved, and the interested person can view or request the detailed valuation for that property. The interested party can then start the CCA process. More information is available on GOV.UK.
Figure 11: Customer registrations by customer type and month, 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023
Source: Customer registrations and approved property claims for the Check, Challenge, Appeal process
The number of ratepayers (split by interested persons (IPs) and agents) registering for CCA each month is shown in Figure 11. More than 90% of customer registrations are from interested persons rather than agents. A seasonal pattern is visible in the graph; customer registrations are generally higher at the start of the year and gradually decrease as the year goes on.
The business rates revaluation saw an increase in the number of customer registrations following the publication of the 2023 draft rating lists on 17 November 2022. Further increases in customer registrations were seen between January and March 2023, particularly in March ahead of the 2023 rating lists coming into effect on 1 April 2023. From 1 April 2023 ratepayers in Wales adopted the CCA process for the 2023 rating list. Customers were able to register for CCA before 1 April, therefore the data shown in figure 11 for recent months includes customer registrations relating to properties in both England and Wales.
Figure 12: Approved property claims by month and country, 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2023
Source: Customer registrations and approved property claims for the Check, Challenge, Appeal process
The number of approved property claims by month is shown in Figure 12. The lag between Figure 11 and Figure 12 reflects the time it takes for a customer registering for CCA to claim a property and then have their claim approved by a Valuation Officer. In March 2023 there was a spike in approved property claims prior to the closure of the 2017 list on 31 March.
4. Further Information
More information about this release can be found in the Background Information document.
More detailed information on the 2017 and 2023 local rating list is available at gov.uk/find-business-rates.
Further information on the area codes used in this can be found on the ONS website.
More information on statistics at the VOA can be found on the Agency’s website: About VOA statistics.
Timings of future releases are regularly placed on the VOA research and statistics calendar.
We will keep the format of this document under review to continue improving the presentation of our statistics, and welcome feedback from users on the value of the information provided in this commentary – please forward any comments to the Statistics Inbox.