These Regulations—
(a) may be cited as the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2009;
(b) apply in relation to England;
(c) apply in relation to the financial year beginning on 1st April 2009;
(d) shall come force on 1st April 2009.
Specified date: 1 April 2009: see para (d) above.
Regulation 4(g) of the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2008 shall apply as if the reference to £2,200 were to £15,000.
Specified date: 1 April 2009: see reg 1(d).
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
John Healey
Minister of State
Department for Communities and Local Government
23rd February 2009
Section 45 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 provides that owners of empty non-domestic properties are liable to pay non-domestic rates if certain conditions apply. One of those conditions is that the property must fall within a class prescribed in regulations made, in relation to England, by the Secretary of State.
Regulation 3 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2008 prescribes that class as consisting of all buildings or parts of buildings except those listed in regulation 4. The list in regulation 4 includes properties whose rateable value is less than £2,200 (regulation 4(g)). For the financial year beginning on 1st April 2009, regulation 2 of these Regulations alters the operation of regulation 4(g) so that it excepts properties whose rateable value is less than £15,000.
A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Department for Communities and Local Government's Business Rates and Valuation Division (telephone 020 7944 4224) and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website (www.opsi.gov.uk).
