The Scottish government has announced its intention to follow England and pass legislation to stop business premises receiving rateable value reductions due to the pandemic.
During recent Scottish parliamentary questions the Minister for Public finance, Tom Arthur MSP confirmed that the Scottish government “agree in principle with the UK Government” that market-wide economic changes due to Covid-19, should only be considered at a revaluation. The 2023 Revaluation is to be based on rental levels prevailing at 1 April 2022, when it is hoped the economy will have recovered somewhat.
Whilst the UK government has introduced regulations to restrict the ‘matters’ reflected in a valuation with immediate effect and with a Bill passing through parliament to make this retrospective, the Scottish Government has said that it will set legislative plans after the summer period.
The minister also confirmed that the proposed £1.5 billion fund in England, intended to support businesses outside of the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, should result in consequential funding for the Scottish Government, which will be used to support businesses during the recovery period.
Wales and Northern Ireland are yet to make a decision.
