Revaluations always produce winners and losers. The postponement will have a negative financial impact on those who would have benefited from reduced rates liabilities, particularly in the traditional retail sector. If implemented as planned from April 2021 this would have led to substantial reductions in liabilities for the beleaguered retail sector. At the other end of the spectrum, distribution warehousing and businesses in London would have seen substantial rises. The revaluation was due to come into effect from April 2021 which would coincide with the end of the current scheme of retail, leisure and hospitality relief.
We have been here before when the revaluation was postponed in 2015, again to the detriment of the retail sector in particular. The announcement applies only to England. Wales and Scotland have devolved powers. Wales will need to consider whether fairness, particularly for those who will be winners in the revaluation, is to be sacrificed in favour of the certainty of current liabilities, albeit linked to the CPI.