Commercial properties in NI to have rates revalued by 2023

All commercial properties in Northern Ireland are to be officially revalued for rates by 2023.

The last revaluation was completed just more than a year ago but the finance minister said much has changed since then.

The "dramatic impact" of the pandemic will feed through to changes to the rental values of many properties, said Conor Murphy.

Rates are a property tax based on the rental value of a property.

The rateable value is worked out using its Net Annual Value (NAV).

NAV is an assessment of the annual rental value that the property could reasonably be let for at a fixed point in time.

The NAV is then multiplied by the "rate in the pound" to produce the annual bill.

The revaluation process is "revenue neutral", meaning that those facing higher bills are offset by those facing lower bills.

In the last revaluation, businesses in hospitality, convenience retail and student accommodation say their rates increase.

Many retailers, including large supermarkets, saw their bills fall.

The pandemic has had significant impact on the value of different types of property.

For example, logistics facilities and retail parks have been in high demand.

Some of the longer term impacts are not yet clear, such as how working from home will impact office valuations.

Land and Property Services will begin collecting property information from business ratepayers later this year.

This information will form a database of new rental values as of 1 October 2021, instead of the current 2018 values, and will be used in assessing new rateable values for every property.