Appeal By The Assessor For Dunbartonshire And Argyll And Bute V. Mohammed Akram And Another

JurisdictionScotland
JudgeLord Clarke,Lord Doherty,Lord Justice Clerk
Judgment Date07 December 2011
Neutral Citation[2011] CSIH 79
Published date07 December 2011
Docket NumberXA94/11
CourtCourt of Session
Date07 December 2011

LANDS VALUATION APPEAL COURT, COURT OF SESSION

Lord Justice Clerk Lord Clarke

Lord Doherty

[2011] CSIH 79

XA94/11

OPINION OF THE LORD JUSTICE CLERK

in the Appeal by Stated Case by

ASSESSOR FOR DUNBARTONSHIRE & ARGYLL AND BUTE

Appellant;

against

MOHAMMED AKRAM and IFTEKHAR ALI

Respondents:

______

For appellant: Miss Locke

For respondent: MacIver; McClure Naismith

7 December 2011

Introduction

[1] This is an appeal by the assessor against a decision of the Valuation Appeal Committee for Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute (the Committee) by which it allowed an appeal by the respondents against the entry in the 2005 Valuation Roll relating to the Boulevard Hotel, Clydebank. The Committee heard the appeal along with an appeal relating to the Roundabout Inn, Balloch, which it also allowed (cf Ass for Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute v Hagen [2011] CSIH 80).

[2] The ground of appeal in this case was that there had been a material change of circumstances affecting the value of the subjects during the currency of the Roll. The basis of the appeal was that in preparation for the 2010 Revaluation the assessor had valued the subjects as at 1 April 2008, the tone date for that Revaluation, at a lower rateable value than that which was entered in the 2005 Roll. Therefore, the appellants argued, since the rateable value had fallen by 1 April 2008, which was within the currency of the 2005 Roll, it followed that there had been a material change of circumstances affecting the value entered in the 2005 Roll.

[3] The Committee accepted that proposition. It varied the entry accordingly with effect from 1 April 2009. The assessor contends that that was an error of law.

Some general principles

[4] A valuation roll continues in force until a new roll is prepared after a further revaluation (Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 Act, s.1(2)). Revaluations are based on values applying at a date two years before the revaluation comes into force (Valuation Timetable (Scotland) Order). The two most recent revaluations came into force on 1 April 2005 and 1 April 2010 respectively. They were based on values assessed as at 1 April 2003 and 1 April 2008 respectively, which were the tone dates for those rolls.

[5] It is a cardinal principle of a revaluation that the new roll should be based on a new assessment of the values of the subjects in the existing roll and not simply on an adjustment of those values. The assessment in a revaluation is based on a fresh appraisal of the subjects without any necessary regard to their earlier values (Whitwell v Ass for Strathclyde Region 1986 SC 37, Lord Clyde at p 42). Each revaluation is therefore a fresh start (Ass for Orkney and Shetland v Beattie 1987 SC 68, Lord Robertson at p.69; Belhaven Brewery Group plc v Glasgow City Ass, 2003 SC 395, Lord Justice Clerk Gill at para [16]).

[6] An essential feature of the system is that a value entered in the roll remains fixed for the duration of the roll unless during its currency there should be a material change of circumstances affecting that value (Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975, ss 2(1)(d); 3(4); 37(1)).

[7] Since the assessor has to revalue the subjects for the new roll at a tone date that invariably falls within the currency of the existing roll, it follows that in almost every case, the new value will be different from that which is in the current roll.

[8] It is of critical importance that the values in the roll should be consistent with one another. Therefore, when a material change of circumstances has been proved, the revised value must be adjusted to the tone of the roll; that is to say, revised to the value that would have applied at the tone date. In this way a common valuation base is maintained throughout the currency of the roll.

The issue

[9] This brief survey of general principles provides the framework in which we have to decide the key issue in this appeal.

[10] I would formulate the issue in the following way: Where the assessor revalues the subjects for the purpose of a forthcoming revaluation as at a tone date that is in an intermediate year, and where the new value is lower than that in the current roll, does the new valuation constitute a material change of circumstances affecting the current value?

The facts

[11] In the 2005 Revaluation the subjects were valued as a hotel in accordance with the 2005 Revaluation Scheme of the Scottish Assessors' Association (SAA) (cf Suburban Taverns (Glasgow) Ltd v Glasgow Ass 2008 SC 298). They were entered in the roll at a net annual value/rateable value of £127,500. That figure was assessed as at 1 April 2003 on the basis of an adjusted turnover of £1,646,580 in the tone year.

[12] In the 2010 Revaluation the subjects were valued in accordance with the SAA Revaluation Scheme for licensed premises/public houses. They were entered in the roll at a NAV/RV of £102,500. That figure was assessed as at 1 April 2008 on the basis of an adjusted turnover of £1,115,076.

The hearing before the Committee

[13] The respondents submitted that as the valuation of the subjects in the 2010 Roll was based on a tone date of 1 April 2008, it was clear that at that date the NAV/RV of the subjects was significantly less than that entered in the 2005 Roll. The NAV/RV assessed for the 2010 Revaluation was calculated on the same statutory definition as that assessed for the 2005 Roll. Therefore if at a date in an intermediate year the NAV/RV of the subjects had fallen...

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