RATING REVALUATION 2017: UPDATE

Transcription

1 RATING REVALUATION 2017: UPDATE 19 July 2016 CONTENTS Introduction VOA s approach Impact of the VOA s Practice Note Progress in negotiations Next steps

2 INTRODUCTION The next rating revaluation of non-domestic property in England and Wales takes effect on 1 April Universities UK (UUK) and GuildHE are working to negotiate a memorandum of agreement on the method of valuation for rating of institutions in England and Wales with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Rates for institutions in Scotland and Northern Ireland come under separate arrangements which are not within the remit of this exercise. This will be the sixth memorandum of agreement negotiated by Universities UK. The rationale for the exercise rests on delivering a more equitable and contained increase in rate liabilities to the sector than might otherwise be imposed, via informed challenge and collective negotiation. This sector-wide representation is unique in England and Wales, and savings to the sector as a result of the 2010 revaluation exercise have been estimated at 19.5 million. 1 The project is being overseen by a Universities UK/GuildHE Rating Advisory Group which is chaired by Professor Geoffrey Petts, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Westminster, and comprises estates and finance directors from both Universities UK and GuildHE member institutions. The Rating Advisory Group has appointed the rating adviser Gerald Eve LLP to deliver analysis and to lead negotiations. UUK provides project and contract management on behalf of the group. This update follows on from the UUK publication Rating Revaluation 2017: An Introduction 2 which was issued in September This included a project timeline of activities that had taken place in the preceding year; the collection of building cost evidence from the sector and sharing it with the VOA; confirming the appointment of Gerald Eve in September 2015; and the receipt of the VOA s Practice Note setting out its approach to the valuation of higher education institutions for The purpose of this update is to outline the VOA s valuation approach; provide Gerald Eve s estimates of likely rate liabilities arising from the VOA s Practice Note; report on progress in negotiations with the VOA since September 2015; and advise on the next steps. 1. VOA S APPROACH The VOA s Practice Note for 2017, which is currently being used to produce draft valuations of all institutions, represents a significant departure from past agreements. For the 2010 Rating Revaluation, the VOA s equivalent Practice Note retained the approach and methodology that was agreed in the 2005 Memorandum. Thus, the 2010 Practice Note and subsequent agreed Memorandum preserved many of the more favourable elements of the valuation approach, to the benefit of the sector. In their Practice Note for 2017 the structure and content of the guidance has completely changed. Its format reflects the wish of the VOA to standardise guidance across all comparable classes of property (eg hospitals, schools, further education colleges, museums and galleries, local authority properties, etc) that require to be valued on a contractor s basis. 1 Estimate provided by Gerald Eve (2012) Impact of Memorandum for the 2010 Rating Revaluation report to the UUK/GuildHE Rating Advisory Group. 22 February Available: 2

3 It sits within a hierarchy of centrally prepared documents without reference to which the Practice Note cannot be applied by individual institutions. Moreover, favourable general guidance on valuation approach has been discarded. A key objective of the negotiations is to restore the previous format of the stand-alone Memorandum. More critically, many hard-won elements of previous agreements have been removed which will result in a significant valuation impact to the detriment of the sector, with disproportionately increased liabilities, unless the VOA s approach can be modified. Many of these elements allowed flexibility in the application of the Memorandum to individual institutions, which is essential given the disparate nature of very different estates across the country. The change in the VOA s approach to the valuation of institutions is mirrored by a hit on existing valuations in the past few years which is likely to continue into the 2017 Rating List. Issues include a growing body of rental evidence which may support a move from a contractor s basis of valuation to a less favourable basis; the disaggregation of former single campus assessments into smaller constituent parts; and closer examination of bednights (holiday and conference lettings), trading arms/subsidiary companies and innovation centres. All these point to potential higher rate liabilities. Institutions are encouraged to alert Universities UK, GuildHE, the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG) or the Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE) to such issues, as a common defence may have a better chance of success. 2. IMPACT OF THE VOA S PRACTICE NOTE Gerald Eve has provided to the Rating Group a detailed report on the impact of the draft 2017 VOA Practice Note on the higher education sector. This is an update on an earlier version produced in November 2015 to reflect, in particular, the government s recent announcement on the decapitalisation rate in England. The update also includes Rateable Value (RV) and liability analysis based on an enlarged dataset which with the assistance of UUK is the result of modelling the impact over 150 assessments across a broad range of institutions across England and Wales, representing 43% of the total amount of rateable value ascribed to specialised university properties. Gerald Eve estimates that the VOA s Practice Note will result in Rateable Values of specialised properties increasing by an average of 60%. Rateable value is the overall assessment of the maximum rateable value of an estate, but does not consider additional reductions that are likely to be applied, such as Charitable Relief (80%), and other adjustments set by government (such as the Uniform Business Rate (UBR)). It therefore does not follow that institutional liabilities will increase by that amount. Actual institutional liabilities cannot be properly estimated until autumn 2017 at the earliest, but it is beyond the remit of this revaluation project to estimate individual liabilities even at that stage. Nonetheless, Gerald Eve has been tasked to model various groupings of institutions, in order to assess impact across a very diverse sector. Initial modelling suggests that different institutions are likely to see different average RV increases according to their particular circumstances, including location. Figure 1 sets out Gerald Eve s estimates to average RV increases in different regions. 3

4 Figure 1: Estimated percentage increases in average rateable value by region 43% 58% 56% 28% 63% 64% 62% 94% 52% 56% 4

5 Table 1: Estimated percentage increases in average rateable value by region Region Average % RV increase East Midlands 63% East of England/East Anglia 62% London 94% North East 43% North West 58% South East 56% South West 52% Wales 28% West Midlands 64% Yorkshire and Humber 56% Liability for rates is calculated by applying the UBR to rateable value together with any adjustments to reflect transitional arrangements and entitlement to rate reliefs. The UBR has not yet been announced. In addition, the transitional arrangements (which are designed to phase in large increases in liability after a revaluation) have not yet been published. To model impact on liability, Gerald Eve has made assumptions about its expectations including the retention of the 2010 transitional scheme for England and none for Wales. It has further assumed no changes in the entitlement of the sector to 80% mandatory charitable relief for most properties. On this basis, Gerald Eve estimates annual liability will increase from current levels for specialised higher education properties valued on the contractor s basis as set out in Table 2. 5

6 Table 2: Annual % year on year increase in rate liability England 15% 20% 22% 7% 2% Wales 29% 2% 2% 2% 2% 3. PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATIONS Gerald Eve has completed an analysis of all eligible cost data collected from the sector in order to support negotiations with the VOA, which remain ongoing. Meetings with the VOA to date have primarily focused on seeking agreement on the analysis of the cost data and its application to the rating hypothesis in the context of 2017 rateable values. Reports on progress have been provided to the Rating Group, together with confidential advice on tactics and the way forward. There is still a great deal of ground to be covered if the sector is to achieve a favourable agreement in line with previous revaluations. The VOA has been slow to come to the negotiating table, mainly because its resources have been directed at undertaking the required draft valuations for 2017, and Gerald Eve has been required to extend its data analysis phase beyond that originally scoped. Moreover, the timeframe in which the group should seek to secure an agreed Memorandum requires careful consideration. On the one hand, we are conscious that the higher education sector will want an agreed valuation basis in place as soon as possible. On the other hand, the sector may not wish to sign up to an agreement too far ahead of the settlement of valuation schemes for other comparable classes of property. There are common areas where a broad cross-sector challenge could yield a better result. No discussions have yet started on other classes which lack similar representative bodies to coordinate such an initiative. It is important to ensure that the sector does not bear an unfair and disproportionate burden of rate liability. 4. NEXT STEPS It is expected that draft rateable values for all hereditaments in England and Wales will be made available to ratepayers by the VOA from around 30 September It is expected that, at about the same time, government will confirm the anticipated UBR multipliers for England and Wales and provide details of any proposed transitional arrangements. From this point, institutions will be able to budget for rate liability post-april 2017, including in respect of properties not valued by reference to the contractor s basis (and therefore outside the scope of this exercise) with significantly greater certainty. At this point, Gerald Eve will also be in a position to provide the Rating Group with some comparative analysis of RV movement between the higher education sector and other specialised and non-specialised sectors. 6

7 In the meantime, Gerald Eve will continue to refine its analysis of cost data provided by the sector, paying particular attention to the many factors that can lead to tender prices being inflated, and will be working with UUK and the UUK/GuildHE Rating Group members as well as other rating surveyors representing the sector to ensure that all opportunities to secure improvements on the valuation approach adopted by the VOA are explored and pursued. Detailed negotiations with the VOA are expected to continue throughout this period. Gerald Eve will keep the Rating Group regularly updated on progress. UUK will look to keep members and other stakeholders informed of progress throughout the revaluation process. In addition, some institutions have sought clarity as to whether the government s plans to further devolve rates to local authorities would impact this ratings revaluation exercise. The VOA is responsible for agreeing the valuation scheme for the higher education sector rather than local authorities, therefore we do not anticipate a direct impact on the work to agree a Memorandum of Agreement for April Depending on the framework which is decided upon as part of this planned devolution there may be an impact on the liabilities faced by institutions if local authorities are in a position to vary the UBR for their area. UUK will continue to ensure that Gerald Eve is aware of the sector s concerns and that they are taken fully into account in the negotiations with the VOA. Directors of estates and directors of finance are therefore encouraged to alert Mary Lambe and Max Hastings at Universities UK to any issues arising in terms of changing rate liability. CONTACT Mary Lambe, Senior Policy Lead, Universities UK: mary.lambe@universitiesuk.ac.uk Max Hastings, Policy Researcher, Universities UK: max.hastings@universitiesuk.ac.uk 7