Monarch Surveyors

09/11/2021

https://oscaronsite.co.uk/

Oscar Onsite is the UK’s Leading Authority in Cavity Wall Insulation Extraction providing full training, Accreditation, NVQ qualification and Onsite clearance assessments

31/12/2017

May 2018 be a year that is filled with joy, Love, happiness and success in everything you do.

We wish you all the very best of starts to 2018 and hope every day brings your wishes alive.

Happy New Year 2018

24/12/2017

Have a very merry Christmas and holiday season from all the team.

01/01/2017

Our very best wishes to all for 2017

19/09/2016

In what has been billed as the biggest change in a generation, the process of the 2017 business rates revaluation is well under way. consider what colleges and further education establishments need to know – and how they are likely to be impacted.

What are business rates?

Business rates are a tax payable on non-domestic buildings, including all educational buildings, set by the Government and collected by the relevant local Council. Similar to Council Tax for domestic properties, business rates serve as a contribution towards local services.

In England and Wales, business rates are calculated according to a property’s ‘rateable value’. For colleges that were built for educational purposes, this is usually set in reference to the cost of building a new facility at the time of the last valuation date (currently 1st April 2008). Where a college or FE establishment has been converted from another use, for example an office building as is common in the London boroughs, the rateable value represents the market annual rental value at the time of the last valuation date.

This figure is then multiplied by the annual Business Rates Multiplier, which is set by the Government, to give the total amount payable before any deductions.

All further education buildings have rateable values and must pay business rates as a result, but most are eligible for reliefs through charitable status.

What changes are under way?

On 1st April 2017, new rateable values for properties around the country will be implemented. This has triggered a lengthy process, including a number of key dates throughout 2016 and 2017.

Draft rateable values were published online by the VOA (Valuation Office Agency) on 30th September, which help organisations to understand their new valuation, whilst providing an opportunity for them to tell the VOA about any errors before the new rates are applied from April. For the first time, this information has only been made available online via the VOA website, and they won't be sending out printed valuations.

How will it impact FE establishments?

Most organisations including colleges are likely to experience a change in their business rates as a result of the business rates revaluation. This is because the valuation date is set two years before the last revaluation and since there has not been a revaluation since 1st April 2010, local authorities in England and Wales are still basing their business rates bills on 2008 figures. This will change next year, as all non-domestic properties in England and Wales will be reassessed based on a valuation date of 1st April 2015.

A network of business rates surveyors offices across the UK working with educational buildings in different regions has shown some interesting variations. In the London boroughs, for example, many colleges have seen an increase to their rateable value because the rental value of their property has increased considerably since 2008.

Outside of the M25, where it is usually more common to have purpose-built colleges (rather than converted buildings), many will have noticed a more modest increase in rateable values. Our own research shows building costs rose by around ten per cent between 2008 and 2015, due in part to the cost of materials such as steel and concrete, and this has been reflected.

Any establishment that has extended or refurbished their facilities since that time, or changed the use of a building, is also likely to have found that their rateable value has changed.

What happens next?

Although the draft rateable values have now been published, colleges will not be able to calculate their new business rates until the Government announces the multiplier in January. New rates bills will be issued on 1st March 2017 and the revaluation comes into effect from 1st April.

The important thing is to seek advice from a qualified rating advisor as soon as possible to make sure you are not paying over the odds. They can assess your draft rateable values and analyse whether you are entitled to a reduction in your business rates.

A lot of our work with educational buildings will revolve around the negotiation of discounts, which could relate to the age and obsolescence of the facility, temporary buildings or outdoor leisure facilities. We are championing bigger discounts, for example, to reflect the fact that temporary building have an increasingly short life expectancy and their obsolescence should be taken into account – especially if the Government wants to encourage and promote the development of energy efficient educational facilities.

19/09/2016

ACS welcomes Welsh rate relief extension16 September, 2016

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has welcomed the Welsh Government’s announcement that the Small Business Rate Relief scheme will be extended for 2017-18 and made permanent in 2018.

Businesses with a rateable value of up to £6,000 will continue to receive 100% relief, while those with a rateable value of between £6,000 and £12,000 will receive tapered relief from 100% to 0%.

The Welsh Government claim that 70% of small businesses in Wales are eligible for relief, with around half of those eligible paying no rates at all.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Small business rate relief is an important scheme to allow local shops and other businesses to invest in their long-term future. We welcome the extension of the rate relief scheme in Wales, and will continue discussions with officials in Wales about the details of the permanent scheme to be introduced from 2018.”

The draft rating list for England and Wales is due to be published at the end of September, which will publish the draft rateable values for business properties. The last revaluation took place in 2010.

Under plans announced by former Chancellor George Osborne last year, local authorities are set to retain 100% of business rates income, with directly elected metro mayors able to add a supplement to rates in an area to fund infrastructure projects. ACS has raised concerns that local authorities are not using the powers they already have to reduce business rates effectively on high streets.

ACS is currently consulting with members on its submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government's consultation on local rates retention, which is due on September 26.

12/09/2016

Happy Monday

Have a good day and a great week.

02/09/2016

Wall Cavity Insulation. We now have specialist EDA / GDA / EPC qualified surveyors carrying out residential surveys on behalf of Cavity Wall Claims where customers have had insulation fitted which may be substandard and causing your home serious issues including damp and condensation.

Wall Cavity Insulation As part of our growing services to our customers and commercial partners, our surveyors’ expertise in residential property can assist in qualified residential surveys of a va…

27/08/2016

Which? investigated rogue Cavity Insulation firms.

Our unique undercover investigation into cavity wall insualtion reveals problems with damp in some houses. Exclusive footage of cavity wall mis-selling.

27/08/2016

Wall Cavity Insulation - Good or Bad ?

Have you been conned? Potential claim £10,000 - £25,000

If you are one of the millions of homes who have had Wall Cavity Insulation fitted in the last 15 years, whether you paid for it or had it by way of a grant, your home may be facing serious problems.

The number of compensation claims being lodged are growing rapidly. Our surveyors are finding more often than not corners have been cut and the insulation is inherent with faults that might show signs now, but could potentially show anytime.

Installers of the insulation should have carried out qualified surveys and ensured your type of property was correct for the insulation, and after that there are numerous factors which should have been assessed, and during the installation several main install practices should have been followed. Unfortunately, in many circumstances these were not followed, leaving your house and home at substantial risk.

The vast majority of installations were recorded correctly and a CIGA 25 year guarantee provided so the installation firm could claim their payments. The CIGA guarantee is extremely valuable as this protects your house and home if faults are identified.

Our GDA / DEA / EPC surveyors carry out an on-site survey and can quickly ascertain if your installation is sub-standard and means you may be eligible to make a claim for compensation.

WallCavityClaims.co.uk have a panel of solicitors who work on a No Win No Fee service, meaning if they take your case on, they are pretty confident of a successful outcome. There are no upfront costs and nothing to pay if your case loses.

And with typical compensation amounts between £10,000 and £25,000 being paid, it's time to have your property surveyed and either put your mind at ease, or start a claim and protect your house and home.

We are currently updating our website, and should be back online soon, but please do feel free to call us on freephone 0800 023 5852 and we can talk you through the process.

In the meantime, if you have not got a copy of your CIGA guarantee, you can call them with your name and address and they will post a copy out to you for your records. https://ciga.co.uk/

Monarch Surveyors. Protecting you, your business and your home.

16/08/2016

The business rates system is close to collapse under the weight of over 300,000 overdue appeals, while businesses across the South East prepare for huge new bills.

Some of the appeals date back to 2010, but it is thought that the problem will grow significantly when new valuations are published next month.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, commercial agents Colliers International said the Valuation Office Agency, which oversees business rates, is “understaffed and demoralised.” The Agency has seen consecutive years of cuts, including a 20 per cent reduction in 2009-10 alone.

Colliers also reports that many business owners are expected to see huge spikes in their rates bills as valuations are brought in line with contemporary property pricing, with the previous revaluation happening in 2008, in the midst of the property market slump.

Webber told the Daily Mail: “The government’s decision to delay the last revaluation will come home to roost in a matter of weeks when we predict massive hikes across London and the South East.”

Businesses and commentators have long been calling for new reliefs on business rates to combat rising property prices and the impact of the delay in revaluations.

Small business rate relief is currently available to businesses with only one property, which has a rateable value of less than £12,000.

15/08/2016

The number of empty UK high-street shops has increased to over 10% for the first time since April 2015, according to new figures.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC)- Springboard footfall and vacancies monitor found that the town centre vacancy rate in July increased for the second time this year to 10.1%, from a previous 9.6%.

Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive, BRC, said: “The increase in the number of empty shops is an unwelcome reminder of the heavy burden of property costs. After a long run of shop vacancies being below 10 percent, seeing them rise over that threshold once again will be a bitter disappointment to many.

“The retail industry is undergoing a transformation driven by technology which is changing the way we shop. Shoppers are demanding more a personalised service and a seamless interaction between physical and digital.

“With UK property taxes higher than anywhere else in the developed world they act as a disincentive to operate physical space. [The] figures should serve as a wake-up call. If property costs in general, and business rates in particular, continue ever upwards, we should all be concerned about the impact on our local communities up and down the country.”

Overall footfall in July was 0.4% down on a year ago, which is better than the 2.8% fall in June.

However, footfall in shopping centres continues to decline, falling 2.0% in July, following on from a 2.3% fall in June.

The best preforming region is Wales, with a reported 1.7% increase in footfall and only 11.9% town vacancy rate.

Scotland has only 7.5% of empty high-street stores, compared with 15.3% in Northern Ireland. However, the Scottish region reported a decline in overall footfall of -1.9%.

Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director, Springboard, said: “The April to June quarter can prove irregular, as post-Christmas pop ups and temporary stores disappear from the high street and the EU Referendum and political and economic uncertainty of the last quarter will have deterred some retailers from taking on leases.

“The next quarter’s figures will be the ones to watch to get a clear picture on any continued increase in vacancy rates, which would be concerning for town centres across the UK.”