§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy regarding re—establishing the procedure for the regular revaluation of (a) domestic 490W hereditaments and (b) non—domestic hereditaments; and if he will list the organisations and institutions which have made representations to him (i) in favour of regular revaluations and (ii) against regular revaluations.
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§ Mr. WaldegraveWe introduced provisions in the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 to allow revaluations of domestic and non—domestic property to be held when they were needed rather than necessarily at regular intervals. In considering urgently the case for a domestic revaluation we will be taking into account comments received on the question of regualr domestic or non—domestic revaluations. These include 16 representations in reponse to our White Paper "Rates" (Cmnd. 9008).
Fourteen of these representations favoured regular revaluations. Two were against any domestic revaluation; both of these considered that domestic rates should be abolished. The representations came from:
- 1. the Association of District Councils
- 2. Hampshire County Councils
- 3. Ipswich Borough Council
- 4. the National Association of Local Councils
- 5. Surrey County Association of parish and Town Councils
- 6. the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives
- 7. the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
- 8. the Rating Surveyors Association
- 9. the Rating Officers Guild
- 10. New Milton, Barton and District Ratepayers and Residents Association
- 11. the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Fair Rates Association
- 12. the Confederation of British Industry
- 13. the Doncaster Chamber of Commerce
- 14. the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- 15. Sandwell Commercial Ratepayers Association
- 16. Wilks Head and Eve
In addition a large number of respondents to our 1981 Green Paper "Alternatives to Domestic Rates" (Cmnd. 8449) favoured regular revaluations if the rating system was to be retained.
§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the operation of section 21 of the Local Government Act 1974; and whether he has any plans to seek to amend that section.
§ Mr. WaldegraveSection 21 provides that between revaluations no proposal can be made to increase the assessment of domestic or mixed hereditaments because of the installation of central heating or minor improvements which would add £30 or less to gross value. The provision was intended to provide temporary rate relief for people carrying out home improvements, removing a disincentive to undertake such works, and to simplify the work of the valuation office. Section 21 provides that the relief will continue until the next revaluation. Relief has therefore now been given over a much longer period than was originally intended.
We have no plans at present to amend this section. However, we are urgently considering the case for a domestic revaluation, and in that context we will certainly be considering the questions raised by the operation of this relief.