BT has condemned the rates rise after seeing its bill soar by 387% from £165m to £743m.
The sheer demand from businesses to know their new bills is causing the Valuation Office Agency site to crash, according to ratings specialists.
To see the site visit www.gov.uk/correct-your-business-rates
John Webber, head of ratings at Colliers International, said: “The values are close to what we predicted. There’s some significant falls around the country but some significant increases as well but predominantly in central London.”
From Wednesday: Large properties ‘exposed to massive pain’ by new business rates
Sky has seen its bills rise by 15%.
Many of the businesses on the central list, which includes major transport, utility, telecommunications lines and pipe-lines, have seen large rises.
- The Docklands Light Railway will see a 86% increase
- The London Underground will see a 36% increase
- Network Rail will see a 38% increase
- National Grid will see its bills rise by 20%
Webber said the increases on the transport network were likely to end up being absorbed by commuters.
Vin Vara, managing director of Tool Shop Group, which has nine units in central London, in W1, W2 and NW1, said his bill had risen from £127,000 to £174,000.
Vara, who is also president of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: “It will mean streamlining, changing direction.”
He said shops in Queensway, Islington and Victoria were there were lease reviews coming up would mean leaving and finding smaller units in secondary locations.
Guy Lightowler, director of commerce of jewellers Warren James, which has 200 branches across the country, said expected rate reductions had been hit by the proposed levels of cushion of transitionary rate relief for its mostly medium rated businesses, slowing the rate at which bills can go down year by year.
The preferred option in the government consultation is that bills can only drop by 10% for medium sized businesses in the first year.
He said: “We are all over the UK so the rates are much higher than rateable values.We were expecting a reduction which hasn’t come which is very disappointing.”
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