Non-domestic rating: challenges and changes statistical commentary
Published 9 May 2024
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 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-march-2024/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 also continues to include statistics relating to challenges made against the 2017 non-domestic rating lists.
As announced in the previous release (1 February 2024) it is proposed to remove the tables on assessment reviews from the Challenges & Changes publication, to be replaced with similar information in the Stock release. Therefore, this release will be the last to include statistics on reviews of rating assessments (known as “reports”) that have either been initiated by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) or a billing authority. Please refer to the 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. However, both the VTS and VTW publish their latest statistics on their respective websites.
Responsible statistician
Anna McReady
Statistical enquiries
Date of next publication
August 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 March 2024
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2023 local rating list, England and Wales, Table EW23_1_1
Figure 1 shows that 63,100 Checks have been registered in England since the start of the 2023 rating list (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024). Of these, 52,360 have been resolved, and 10,740 remain outstanding.
Some of the resolved Checks will progress to Challenges and as such, 7,810 Challenges have been registered since the start of the 2023 rating list (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024). Of these, 990 have been resolved, 890 have been marked incomplete (does not contain all the detail required in legislation) and 5,930 remain outstanding.
Figure 2: Checks against the England 2023 rating list by case status and month, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2023 local rating list, England, Table EW23_3_2
In the latest quarter (January to March 2024), 17,500 Checks were registered, up from 14,660 the quarter before and 17,190 Checks were resolved, up from 16,380 the quarter before. There was a spike in Checks registered in September 2023 relating to properties within the office sector.
Figure 3: Challenges against the England 2023 rating list by case status and month, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2023 local rating list, England, Table EW23_3_2
In the latest quarter (January to March 2024), 3,520 Challenges were registered, up from 1,890 the quarter before and 560 Challenges were resolved, up from 250 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 March 2024
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, England, Table E17_1_1
Figure 4 shows that 848,340 Checks have been registered since the start of the 2017 rating list (1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024). Of these, all 848,340 have been resolved and there are no outstanding cases. Some of the resolved Checks will progress to Challenges and as such, 188,300 Challenges have been registered since the start of the 2017 rating list (1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024). Of these, 143,120 have been resolved, 22,280 have been marked incomplete and 22,900 remain outstanding.
Figure 5: Checks against the England 2017 NDR list by case status and month, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024
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 are several spikes between March 2020 and March 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Government imposed restrictions on businesses. There is also 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. A spike in Checks resolved is then shown in April 2023 and Checks resolved remained high up to June 2023. From 1 April 2023 new Checks against the 2017 list are registered in limited circumstances only.
In the latest quarter (January to March 2024), 40 Checks were registered, down from 150 the quarter before and 1,550 Checks were resolved, down from 5,960 the quarter before.
Figure 6: Challenges against the England 2017 NDR list by case status and month, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, England, Table E17_2_1
In the latest quarter (January to March 2024), 3,390 Challenges were registered, down from 5,910 the quarter before and 10,650 Challenges were resolved, up from 10,320 the quarter before.
In August 2020, the VOA received 22,330 Challenges against the 2017 list; this was a consequence of the prior rise in Checks (Figure 5) and is attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. The VOA resolved 52,490 Challenges in December 2021 due to the enactment of the Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Act 2021. For further details please refer to Non-domestic Rating: Challenges and Changes, 2017 Rating List, March 2022.
Figure 7: Resolved CCA cases by case type and outcome against the England 2017 NDR list, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024
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, 64% result in no change to RV, 35% 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 in England was 0 at 31 March 2024, down from 20 at the end of the previous quarter. The number of outstanding 2010 appeals was overstated in previous releases due to 290 resolved Land Tribunal cases showing incorrectly within our data. This has now been corrected and all 2010 list appeals in England have now been resolved.
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 March 2024
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2023 local rating list, England and Wales, Table EW23_1_1
Figure 8 shows that 1,760 Checks have been registered in Wales since the start of the 2023 rating list (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024). Of these, 1,360 have been resolved, and 390 remain outstanding.
Some of the resolved Checks will progress to Challenge and as such, 190 Challenges have been registered since the start of the 2023 rating list (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024). Of these, 10 have been resolved, 20 have been marked incomplete, and 160 remain outstanding.
Figure 9: Checks against the Wales 2023 rating list by case status and month, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
Source: Checks against the 2023 local rating list, Wales, Table EW23_3_4
In the latest quarter (January to March 2024) 620 Checks were registered, up from 460 the previous quarter and 530 checks were resolved, up from 490 the quarter before. Checks and Challenges against the Wales 2023 list are comparable to the England 2023 list (see Figure 2) but lower as there are fewer properties on the Wales rating list and Wales adopted the CCA process for the first time with the 2023 rating list so it may take ratepayers time to become familiar with the system.
The number of Challenges against the Wales 2023 rating list is slowly increasing and as such 120 challenges were registered in the latest quarter (January to March 2024), up from 50 the quarter before.
Challenges take longer to resolve as it is necessary to exchange and discuss evidence with ratepayers. As such, figures for resolved challenges against the Wales 2023 rating list are currently too low to present in this commentary.
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 the 2017 list in 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 10: Non-CCA challenges in Wales against the 2017 rating list from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024
Source: Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, Wales, Tables W17_1_1, W17_1_2 and W17_1_3
Figure 10 shows that 42,300 challenges have been registered since the start of the 2017 rating list in Wales (1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024). Of these, 39,850 have been resolved, and 2,450 remain outstanding.
Figure 11: Non-CCA challenges against the Wales 2017 NDR list by case status and month, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024
Source: Checks, Challenges and Changes against the 2017 local rating list, Wales, Tables W17_1_1 and W17_1_2
Figure 11 shows the number of challenges received against the Wales 2017 list by quarter. There were 10 challenges registered in the latest quarter (January to March), down from 60 last quarter, and 1,940 challenges resolved in the latest quarter, down from 1,990 last quarter. From 1 April 2023 new challenges against the Wales 2017 list are registered in limited circumstances only.
Wales also saw a spike in challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to Wales using the non-CCA process for the 2017 rating list, these challenges were withdrawn rather than cleared following the enactment of the Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill.
2.3. Non-CCA Wales cases raised against the 2010 rating list
The number of appeals outstanding for the 2010 list at 31 March 2024 was 50, down from 70 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 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 confirms 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 12: Customer registrations by customer type and month, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024
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 12. More than 90% of customer registrations are from interested persons rather than agents.
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 12 for recent months includes customer registrations relating to properties in both England and Wales.
Figure 13: Approved property claims by month and country, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024
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 13. The lag between Figure 12 and Figure 13 reflects the time it takes for a customer to register 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.