Commercial property occupiers need to make sure they provide accurate information to Land and Property Services (LPS) to ensure an accurate rateable value is assessed.

LPS issued Rent & Leasing Questionnaires (RALQ) this week to all owners and occupiers of commercial property in Northern Ireland requesting full details of the tenure of their property.

Tracy Flannigan, Director of Advisory and Transaction Services at CBRE, said: “If you occupy or own commercial property including offices, shops, warehouses, public houses and petrol filling stations etc, you will receive a ‘PIN Letter’ which will contain a link to the web and both a PIN number and Property ID for each individual property. RALQ’s cannot be completed without the ‘PIN Letter’.

“It is very important that full and accurate rental evidence is supplied including details of incentives such as capital contributions, rent free periods, service charge caps etc.”

The information will be used by LPS as it revalues all 75,000 non-domestic properties in Northern Ireland for the purposes of the 2020 Revaluation. The rateable value of a property is effectively a rental valuation at a fixed date and for Reval 2020, the valuations date is 1 April 2018. The new Valuation List will be published on 1 April 2020 but it is anticipated that a draft list will be made publicly available to enable ratepayers to review their new rateable values in late 2019.

Tracy, who is also RICS Northern Ireland Commercial Property spokesperson, added: “Regular Revaluations are necessary to ensure that changes in rental values are accounted for in the spread of rates and it is important that businesses provide the information required. Doing so helps ensure that there is greater certainty, consistency and stability reflecting local economic conditions and ultimately making the rating system fairer.”

Tracy Flannigan said: “Rates are a significant cost for businesses and it is essential that RALQ’s are completed fully, accurately and in a timely fashion. It can be a complicated process and it’s worth taking professional advice.”

CBRE provides advice to businesses throughout the UK with a total rateable value of £5.2bn and has a dedicated rating team in Belfast. As well as completing the RALQ, it can advise on the reasonableness of the rateable value once the valuation is published and negotiate appeals, there being a three-stage appeal process in Northern Ireland.