Haggart v Assessor for Leith
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 15 December 1911 |
| Docket Number | No. 112. |
| Date | 15 December 1911 |
| Court | Court of Session |
Ld. Johnston, Lord Salvesen, Lord Cullen.
Valuation ActsValuePublic-housePrinciple of valuationPercentage of drawings.
The magistrates of a burgh fixed the yearly rent or value of a public-house, occupied by the owner, at 7 per cent of the drawings, of which a statement had been voluntarily tendered by the owner. Neither he nor the Assessor adduced any evidence as to the rents paid for leased public-houses in the neighbourhood; but it was proved that the method applied by the Assessor had been adopted by him under agreement with about sixty other publicans in the burgh who owned and occupied their own premises. Held that, in the particular circumstances of the case, the magistrates' decision fell to be sustained.
Observations as to the valuation of public-house premises on a basis of drawings or turnover.
At a Valuation Court, held on 12th September 1911 by the Magistrates of Leith, James Haggart, wine and spirit merchant, 156158 Albert Street, Leith, appealed against an entry in the Valuation-roll for the year ending Whitsunday 1912, fixing the yearly rent or value of a public-house in Albert Street, Leith, owned and occupied by him, at 210. [Case 298]
He craved that the yearly rent or value should be entered at 80.
The Magistrates reduced the valuation to 175, and the appellant craved and obtained a stated case for appeal, which set forth that the following facts were admitted, or were held by the Magistrates to be proved or within their knowledge:
1. The premises in question are situated at 156158 Albert Street, Leith, and are occupied as a licensed public-house. The appellant has been owner and occupier of the premises since the year 1894. The shop is a corner one, with an area of about 1062 square yards, has about 63 feet of frontage, and is situated in a populous locality. The premises have a large bar and suitable cellarage, and are well adapted for carrying on an extensive business.
2. From 1900 to 1910 the yearly rent or value as appearing in the Valuation-roll was 80. In 1910, in consequence of the increase of licence-duty imposed by the Finance Act, 190910, representations were made to the Assessor by many of the licence-holders in Leith, including the appellant, for a reduction of the valuation of their premises. The appellant also lodged an appeal against the valuation of his premises at 80, and craved that it should be reduced to 60; but by agreement between his agent and the Assessor the rental was allowed to remain at 80 for another year, as it was anticipated that some general principle of fixing assessable rentals for public-houses might be laid down by the next Lands Valuation Court.
3. At meetings which the Assessor had in 1910 with Mr Garden, S.S.C., secretary and agent of the Leith Wine, Spirit, and Beer Trade Association, who represented the majority of the licence-holders within the burgh, including the present appellant, there were for the first time furnished to the Assessor, at his request, returns of the spirit turnover per permit-books, the beer turnover, also notes as to the weekly and annual drawings of various public-houses, the assessable rentals of which were under consideration by the Assessor. After consideration and discussion, Mr Garden and the Assessor agreed that, after taking into account various elements, including situation, extent of premises, and the character of the business, a fair basis of rental and equitable principle of assessment would be reached by taking a certain fixed percentage of the annual turnover of each shop. On this basis, accordingly, the Assessor adjusted with Mr Garden a great number of assessed rentals of licensed premises, the result being that (including additional outgoings in respect of the increased licence-duty) 7 per cent or thereby of the gross turnover was fixed as the assessable rental in these cases. On the foregoing basis, in 191011 a number of the rents of licensed premises were reduced, and in one case increased. In other cases, including the appellant's, the fixing of the assessed rental was held over, in the expectation, as above explained, that some general principle of assessing the rentals of public-houses might be laid down at the next Lands Valuation Judges' Court.
4. In five public-house appeals decided by the Valuation Judges last year, in which turnover was an element in the case, the resultant rental, after making allowance for half the increased licence-duty, varied, as shown by the tabular statement produced by the Assessor, from 6 to 10 per cent of the gross turnover, from three weeks to five and a quarter weeks' average weekly drawings, and from 17 to 291/2 per cent of the gross profit. The...
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Patricia Welsh V. Neil Brady
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