Paul Messiter

I specialise in property taxation issues relating to offices in London and the South East of England. I have extensive experience in providing advice to clients on various rating matters, including negotiating reductions in Rateable Value, deletions from the Rating List, reconstitutions of buildings and liaising with Billing Authorities and the VOA.

My clients include the Cadogan Estate, the Grosvenor Estate, Soho Estates, Scottish and Southern Energy, EDF, BP, Shell, Equinix, General Mills, Channel Advisor, Kuoni Travel, Sungard, KFC and a number of serviced office providers including The Office Group, Halkin Management, Storey and The Space.

MY RECENT PROJECTS

• Deletions from the Rating List – I am negotiating several reductions to RV £0 on behalf of Cadogan Estates, involving the large development at 196-222 Kings Road and other significant development projects on Sloane Street. These will result in substantial savings for the Estate. Other current projects are the negotiation for the deletion of the former House of Fraser department store in Hull and a number of shops and offices in a large development in Holborn.
• Shadow revaluation – I have been managing a team to undertake a ‘Shadow revaluation’ of all non-domestic rating assessments in England, Scotland and Wales for the 2017 revaluation. We predicted the UBR to within an accuracy window of 1.5%. This project meant ours was the only surveying firm to provide accurate 2017 liability forecasts for all ratepayers in England, Scotland and Wales.
• Rating lists – I am currently negotiating savings on behalf of clients in the 2017 Rating List, having made substantial savings for clients in the 2005 and the 2010 Rating Lists, through reductions in rateable values, deletions and temporary reliefs as well as advising on mitigating rates liabilities through empty rates and small business rates relief. In addition, I have prepared and presented cases to the Valuation Tribunal on several occasions over these Lists.