Who pays business rates on empty properties?

There are different rules on Business Rates for empty properties and occupied properties.

Occupied properties
Where a property is occupied, the person or company occupying it is responsible for paying the charge.

The landlord may be responsible for payment in respect of some "business centres" where there may be a number of small units and the landlord provides secretarial and other support services. It is likely in these cases that there would only be one rating assessment for the whole centre.

Empty properties
Non-domestic properties which are empty, may be liable to empty property rates which are 100% of the full charge. Liability commences after the property has been empty for 3 months in respect of commercial premises such as shops and offices or 6 months in respect of industrial or storage premises such as factories and warehouses.

The liability for empty property rate rests with the "person (or company) entitled to possession". This could be the tenant or leaseholder (if there continues to be a valid tenancy or lease) or the owner of the property.

Please note that the 3 month (or 6 month) free period commences at the point the property becomes substantially empty. A change in ownership, lease or tenancy termination etc does not start further free periods.

Below is a list of properties or situations where the empty property rate is not chargeable:

• Listed buildings or those subject to a preservation order
• Properties with a rateable value of less than £2,600 (£18,000 for the period 1 April 2010 - 31 March 2011 only)
• Properties where occupation is prohibited by law, e.g. by Health and Safety legislation
• Properties empty due to action taken by the Crown, or by any public or local authority, either to prevent occupation or to acquire the property, e.g. a compulsory purchase order has been made
• Properties where the person liable, would be so, only in his/her capacity as a personal representative of a deceased person, a company liquidation or company administration, a trustee in bankruptcy or a trustee under a deed of arrangement
• Properties owned or leased by a charity or Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) and the next use is likely to be mainly for charitable or CASC purposes.