Hundreds of Reading industrial occupiers have had their rates bills slashed by 12%.
The move is an early indication of how appeals against the 2005 rating revaluation are proceeding.
The agreements, which focus on occupiers close to Reading town centre, are the first in the Thames Valley since the revaluation came into effect on 1 April 2005.
Chris Sullivan, a partner at Edwin Hill, which acted on behalf of the petitioners, said around 400 occupiers paying £10m pa in rates would receive an average rebate of 12% for 2005.
He said: “The agreements reached demonstrate that the rental evidence used for the revaluation could not be supported and bodes well for future negotiations.”
Jerry Schurder, head of rating at Gerald Eve, said: “This is good news for ratepayers as it suggests that the government’s mantra that everything has been got right first time around is not supportable.”
The government’s aim for the 2005 revaluation was to get revaluations right first time in a bid to reduce appeals.
Schurder said the Reading agreements would alleviate industry concerns about the VOA’s “overly confrontational” response to appeals as it tries to meet government targets.
The ODPM has set a limit on bill reductions of 4.2%.
The VOA has received 250,000 valid appeals so far, much less than the expected figure.
It said 60,000 appeals would be processed by 1 April.
References: EGi News 31/03/06
