Devil is in the detail

Some surprising variations in Rateable Values have emerged from new list

11 October 2016

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The draft 2017 Rating List was published on 30th September. The VOA provided a detailed breakdown by region and sector for properties in England. However, Welsh changes were released with an analysis of changes by property sector only. Cooke & Arkwright has now produced a breakdown of the movements in RV for each of the 22 Unitary Authorities in Wales. This has revealed a wide variation between authorities, with for example, an 11% decline in Neath Port Talbot against a 9% increase in Conwy. Within each Unitary Authority the distribution of winners and losers is even more pronounced.

A public house in Conwy has seen its RV rise by 406%, while the RV of a large shop in Llandudno has fallen by 48%. In Port Talbot, the RV for a food stall has risen by 225% and a shop in Neath has seen its RV fall by 54%.

While Cardiff shows a decrease of -3.48% and Newport -7.51%, the increase in overall RVs within some of the rural authorities in mid and north Wales especially Gwynydd, Conwy, Cerdigion and Powys, is, perhaps counter-intuitive. The declines in RV in the industrial heartlands of Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Merthyr and Blaenau Gwent are unsurprising. 

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