BBPA: pubs should have business rates assessed annually

Speaking at the trade body’s key issues forum in Manchester last Thursday, chief executive Brigid Simmonds said that she is pushing for the reintroduction of section 20 under the defunct General Rate Act (1967 c.9).

“Section 20 used to mean that [on a] year-on-year basis, your rates could be looked at by the assessor and if the rates had gone down then you could have received a reassessment that year.

“It was abolished because at the time we had a far better economy than we have now and, of course, the rates were just going up on an annual basis.

“So what we are asking for is for it to be reintroduced because the Government put off the revaluation for a couple of years, so pubs that really should have received a lower figure under the last revaluation are going to be in a worse position now and, of course, that will tip them over [the edge].”

She also reiterated her concerns about confusion over the way pub business rates are calculated. A pub’s rates are base on fair maintainable trade, the same way that rents are calculated.

However, shops have rates calculated on square feet, and many licensees believe that this should be the same process for pubs.

She said: “[Take] for example last summer, if you have a beer garden, you probably never set foot in it — what’s the point of being rated on something that, frankly, you couldn’t use?

“So [the fair maintainable trade calculations] is a better process for us, but it needs to be capable of being adjusted.”

In addition, Simmonds called for an extension of the small business rate relief and “wider use” of the rural rate relief.