Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

How to check your rateable value

Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is normally set by a valuation officer from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an executive agency of HM Revenues and Customs.

The VOA produces and maintains the Rating List which is a full list of rateable values for each local council - these are available on this page of the VOA website. 

The rateable value for your property is also shown on your bill. The rateable value broadly represents the yearly rental value of the property, making certain assumptions, on a given date.

Under current legislation a revaluation/new Rating List comes into force every five years. For the current Rating List, which came into force on 1 April 2005, the rateable value broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on 1 April 2003.

The valuation officer may alter the rateable value if he or she believes that the circumstances of the property have changed. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can also appeal against the entry shown in the Rating List if they believe it to be wrong. For more information on how to do this please see How to appeal your rateable value.

Transistional arrangements

Property values normally change a good deal between each revaluation. Transitional arrangements help to phase in the effects of these changes by limiting the amount by which a bill may rise, or fall, following a revaluation.

Under these arrangements limits continue to apply until the full charge is reached (i.e. rateable value times the multiplier).