Le Cafe Noir v Assessor for Tayside Region
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 22 March 1991 |
| Date | 22 March 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 27. |
| Court | Lands Valuation Appeal Court (Scotland) |
L.V.A.C.
Lords Clyde, Cullen and Coulsfield.
Valuation—Subjects—Subjects on two storeys used as cafe and bar—Upper storey valued as public house and lower storey valued as restaurant on grounds of physical characteristics—Whether adequate to justify separation for valuation purposes.
Subjects on two storeys comprised a ground floor, consisting of a small lounge bar with bar servery and food display where meals were served until 8 p.m., and upper floor, consisting of a large lounge bar where meals were served only at lunchtime. Food turnover accounted for 30 to 36 per cent of the subjects' total turnover. Permission for change of use from a restaurant to a public house had been granted, and the subjects did not meet the statutory requirements for a restaurant licence. The assessor valued the ground floor at the level appropriate to a restaurant and the upper floor at the level appropriate to a public house. The ratepayers appealed, in respect of the ground floor valuation, to the valuation appeal committee, who instructed the assessor to adjust the valuation to eliminate an element of double counting on the liquor sold on the ground floor, but quoad ultra dismissed the appeal as, in their opinion, the physical characteristics of the premises in question were consistent with a restaurant and not a public house. The ratepayers appealed to the Lands Valuation Appeal Court, contending that the subjects were a composite unit and should be valued as such at the level appropriate for a public house, and that the committee's reason for not doing so was inadequate.
Held (rev. decision of the valuation appeal committee) that the reason given by the appeal committee for their decision was inadequate as it was necessary to have regard to actual use as well as physical condition and, as there were not sufficient reasons for treating the storeys separately for valuation purposes, the whole subjects should be classified as a public house; and appealallowed and valuation roll amended accordingly.
Observed (per Lord Clyde) that the propriety of referring to subjects outside the valuation area for the purposes of a valuation on the comparative principle was a matter of valuation law and not of local practice.
At a meeting of the valuation committee for Tayside Region held for the purpose of hearing and determining appeals against entries in the valuation roll, Le Café Noir appealed against the assessor's valuation of certain subjects which had two floors, the upper floor of which was very much larger than the ground floor. The subjects concerned were described in the valuation roll as a restaurant. The assessor valued the ground floor at the level appropriate to a restaurant and the upper floor at the level appropriate to a public house. The appellant ratepayers submitted to the committee that the whole subjects should be valued as a public house. The committee thereafter instructed the assessor to adjust the valuation to eliminate an element of double counting on the liquor sold on the ground floor but quoad ultradismissed the appeal as, in their opinion, the physical characteristics of the subjects were consistent with a restaurant and not a public house.
The appellants thereafter appealed to the Lands Valuation Appeal Court.
The appeal came before the Lands Valuation Appeal Court, comprising Lord Clyde, Lord Cullen and Lord Coulsfield, for a hearing thereon.
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Assessor For Scottish Borders Council V. Stobo Castle Health Spa Limited
...the case to the Committee to make the finding (eg Magell v Dumfries and Galloway Ass 2005 SLT 453; Le Café Noir v Ass for Tayside Region 1991 SC 262). If the parties are agreed as to a finding that is missing from the case, we may in certain circumstances take the expeditious course of allo......