Scottish Rugby Union v Assessor for Edinburgh
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 15 January 1926 |
| Date | 15 January 1926 |
| Docket Number | No. 49. |
| Court | Court of Session |
Lord Hunter, Lord Sands, Lord Morison.
ValuationValueFootball groundMethod of valuationContractor's principleComparisonProfits.
The Scottish Rugby Union constructed a new football ground at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, at a cost of 131,000. The ground was opened in 1925, and superseded their old ground at Inverleith. It was incomparably superior in all respects to any other Rugby ground in Scotland. The Assessor, proceeding upon an application of the contractor's principle with certain modifications and concessions, entered the subjects in the Roll for the year 19251926 at a value of 2000, and the Valuation Committee confirmed the valuation.
On appeal the Court, in the special circumstances of the case, and having regard to the valuations of a number of large Association football grounds in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and also of the old ground at Inverleith, reduced the valuation to 1400.
Observed by Lord Sands (1) that the contractor's principle is inapplicable to subjects erected not as a commercial speculation but on public and patriotic grounds; (2) that valuation by profits (a method unavailable in this case for the year in question) is misleading in so far as the profits depend upon the special prestige or position of the owner, e.g., such a body as the Rugby Union; and (3) that valuation by comparison is unsatisfactory where there are no actual lets which can be taken into comparison.
At a meeting of the Valuation Committee for the City of Edinburgh held on 11th September 1925, the Scottish Rugby Union appealed against the yearly rent or value at which the Assessor had entered in the Roll for the year ending Whitsunday 1926 the Recreation Ground, Grand Stand, &c., at Murrayfield, of which the appellants were proprietors and occupiers. The Assessor had entered the subjects at 2000, and the appellants craved that this figure should be reduced to 750.
They also appealed against the valuation of 200 placed upon their House, Pavilion, Grand Stand, and Recreation Ground at Inverleith, craving that the yearly value should be reduced to 100.
The Committee having dismissed the appeal, the appellants craved and obtained a stated case on appeal to the Lands Valuation Appeal Court. [Case 417]
The case set forth that a joint minute of admissions had been lodged by the parties, which included the following relevant facts:
I. Inverleith Ground.
This ground, which extends to 646 acres, was acquired by the appellants in 1897 at a cost of 4550, 11s., and it is burdened with a feu-duty of 17, 15s. per annum. The ground was subsequently laid out as a Rugby football ground with embankments for spectators, and a stand and press-box were erected, all at great cost spread over a number of years. The holding capacity of the ground is 28,000 spectators, of whom 2200 may be accommodated in the stand. The ground has proved to be inadequate to accommodate with safety the large numbers of the public desirous of attending international Rugby football matches, and the appellants have accordingly provided a more commodious ground at Murrayfield. The Inverleith ground is no longer required by the appellants for their purposes, and it is now for sale. It stands in the appellants' books at 12,000. Prior to the current year the Inverleith ground appeared in the Valuation-roll at 310.
II. Murrayfield Ground.
The site of the Murrayfield ground, extending to 19013 acres, was acquired by the appellants in 1922 at a cost of 9506, 10s. It was formerly occupied by the Edinburgh Polo Club, and appeared in the Valuation-roll at 140, 12s. 6d. On this site the appellants have laid out a Rugby football playing field with embankments on three sides and a covered stand on the west side. The embankments are of solid earth stepped with concrete blocks, access being gained by numerous concrete stairs. The stand is of...
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