Whitwell v Assessor for Strathclyde Region
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 24 October 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 5. |
| Date | 24 October 1985 |
| Court | Court of Session |
SC
L.V.A.C. Lords Robertson, Brand and Clyde.
Valuation—Value—Material change of circumstances—Whether constituted by a removal of refuse collection service—Error of measurement and survey by valuer—Whether corrected by assessor prior to appeal—Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 (cap. 30), secs. 2 (1) (f), 3 (4) and 37 (1).1
Section 3 (4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 enacts,inter alia, that the proprietor, tenant or occupier of lands and heritages which are
included in the valuation roll may, "at any time while the roll is in force appeal against the relevant entry but only on the ground that there has been a material change of circumstances since the entry was made or that there is such an error in the entry as is referred to in sec. 2 (1) (f) of the Act". That subsection enables the assessor to "correct any error of measurement, survey or classification or any clerical or arithmetical error in any entry in the valuation roll. Section 37 (1) of the Act defines "material change of circumstances" as "in relation to any lands and heritages a change of circumstances affecting their value and, without prejudice to the foregoing generality, includes any alteration in such lands and heritages and any relevant decision of the Lands Valuation Appeal Court … which alters the gross or net annual value or rateable value of any comparable lands and heritages."The house and car port owned by the appellant were entered in the valuation roll for revaluation of 1978 at a gross annual value of £765. In 1978 the local district council collected refuse from outside the appellant's house but that service was later withdrawn. The appellant then sought a reduction in the valuation on the ground of this change of circumstances. A representative of the assessor's department visited the subjects and then discovered that there had been an error in the valuations. The floor area was found to be smaller than that which had been taken for the 1978 revaluation. The house was found to be of a poorer character and quality than had been assumed for that revaluation. The assessor proceded to alter the entry with a view to correcting these errors under sec. 2 (1) (f) of the 1975 Act as having been errors of measurement in survey. He substituted a gross annual value of £750 in the valuation roll for the figure of £765. The appellant did not regard that as satisfactory and pursued his appeal to the valuation appeal committee arguing that a reduction should be made on the grounds both of the change of circumstances and of the errors in the earlier valuation. The committee dismissed the appeal and the appellant thereafter appealed to the Lands Valuation Appeal Court.
Held (aff. the decision of the committee), (1) that there was no dispute about the area of the house and the earlier error in that regard had been corrected in that a reduction had been made with reference to the acknowledged error in survey in respect of the character and quality of the house; (2) that there was nothing in the case to suggest that the reduction was not sufficient or that any error such as was covered by sec. 2 (1) (f) had not been fully corrected; (3) that the case shewed no allowances had been made in the roll in 1978 in respect of lack of refuse collection and it might be understood from that that there was not a differential recognised between the houses which did and others which did not have that service; (4) that, although the case shewed that the withdrawal of the service had created inconvenience and expense for the appellant this did not necessarily imply an affect on rental value; and, accordingly, (5) that there had been no material change of circumstances justifying the court interfering with the result at which the committee had arrived; and appeal refused.
At a meeting of the valuation appeal committee for Strathclyde Region, Argyll and Bute subregion, held at Dunoon on 29th November 1983 for the purpose of hearing and determining appeals against entries in the valuation roll, Mr W. R. Whitwell appealed against the undernoted entry:
| Ref. No. | Description & situation | Proprietor | Tenant | G.A.V. | R.V. |
| A49080/0160 | House & Carport, Shiol, Ardentallen, Oban | W. R. Whitwell | Proprietor | £750 | £622 |
The committee found the following facts admitted or proved:—"(1) This was a running roll appeal. (2) At the 1978 revaluation the appellant submitted an appeal against that revaluation but subsequently withdrew same because of business overseas. In 1978, the lorries of the district council collected refuse from outside the appellant's house but since that time that service had been withdrawn requiring the appellant to transport his refuse to the district council's refuse tip, a round trip of six miles. The district council lorries are unable now to use the access road to the subjects of appeal which is privately maintained. (3) The appellant had entered into discussions with the respondent regarding the valuation and the respondent admitted that there had been an error of valuation with regard to the type and construction of floor area of the property which resulted in an offer by the respondent to reduce the valuation from rateable value £634 (G.A.V. £765) to rateable value £622 (G.A.V. £750) after a...
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