Hospitality businesses boosted by upcoming rates cuts
Northern Ireland’s hospitality businesses can expect to see huge cuts in their rates bills from April following a revaluation of non-domestic premises by Land & Property Services (LPS).
Following the review, the third in eight years, hotels are generally seeing a decrease of 24% on average across Northern Ireland.
Some 75,000 business – which between them rake in rates of £650 million a year – were assessed in the latest valuation.
Angela McGrath, commissioner of valuation at LPS said: “The revaluation means that from April, ratepayers will contribute to the funding of essential public services such as health, education and infrastructure as well as a wide range of council services relative to their 2021 rental value, instead of 2018 values as at present.
“The amount of money raised through rates will not change as a direct result of Reval2023. The purpose of this revaluation is to maintain fairness in the rating system, not to raise more revenue.”
Sixteen of 33 categories assessed welcome a decrease, with shops down by 4%.
However, while the value of retail property is down on many high streets and shopping centres across Northern Ireland, neighbourhood supermarkets and smaller multiple supermarkets are generally up.
Sectors likely to see a hike under Reval2023 include warehousing (up 12%), manufacturing ( up 11%) and offices (up 10%), while renewables can expect a hike of 70% largely due to the sector’s rapid growth.
