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Deliver more value

Cost management is an ongoing challenge for the healthcare sector, and streamlining business rates is no exception. With limited budgets and a growing demand for healthcare services, healthcare providers must carefully balance the costs of managing properties with the need to provide high-quality care. Effective cost management requires ongoing analysis and monitoring of business rates, as well as identifying potential cost-saving measures. We’re here to help.

Who we work with

We advise the full range of healthcare providers operating in the UK, tailoring expertise to each subsector and its own unique governance, market dynamics and operating styles.

National Health Service (NHS)

Covering over 80% of total healthcare spending, the NHS provides most healthcare services in the UK. Our advice covers all areas of the NHS and the diverse estate it operates from, including:

• Acute NHS hospitals
• Allied health
• Ambulance stations
• Community health centres
• Primary providers (GP surgeries)
• Psychiatric services

Private providers

Private providers provide a full range of healthcare services in the UK. In recent years, funding has diversified from increasing self-funding and NHS contracts to traditional insurance-based funding. We advise:

• Care plus
• Outpatient treatment centres
• Private in-patient hospitals
• Psychiatric hospitals and secure units

Charitable & Not-For-Profit

Charitable and not-for-profit providers have a long history of providing healthcare in the UK, although their charitable status is increasingly under scrutiny. Our clients include:

• Charitable hospitals
• Care homes
• Long-term care
• Rehabilitation centres
• Palliative care
• Supported living

Impact of Revaluation 2023 on Healthcare

The recent changes to healthcare sector property assessments, effective 1 April 2023, offer a somewhat mixed picture. While the national average increase in value ranges between 10% and 20% depending on the property type, there is considerable variation within this range. Some properties may see only modest increases, but our analysis suggests that this could be due to their previous assessments being undervalued. It’s worth noting that while most commercial properties were subject to lockdown restrictions as of 1 April 2021, the effective date for the 2023 Revaluation in England and Wales, most healthcare properties were operational. Therefore, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on assessments is less apparent but still important to consider in reviewing them. In England and Wales, these Rateable Values can now be challenged through the Check, Challenge, Appeal process.

Transitional Relief

Positively, for the first time since 1990, there isn’t a scheme to phase in reductions, properties receiving decreased Rateable Values, and bills, immediately.

 

England and Wales

Previous revaluations across the UK led to initiatives that capped increases in rate liabilities. However, for the 2023 Revaluation, there is limited relief for healthcare providers where the Rateable Value above £100,000 will only see relief if the 2023/2024 liability increase exceeds 30%.

 

Scotland
Scotland has introduced transitional phasing for the first time, although the scheme is more adverse than England’s, with large properties having their liability increases capped at 37.5%.

 

Wales
The Welsh Government’s scheme is more favourable, providing relief to ratepayers who continue in occupation, facing an increase of over £300. Here, the increase is phased over two years.

Regulatory compliance

England and Wales

 

Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023

 

The Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023 will introduce potentially onerous mandatory obligations on ratepayers to regularly update the tenure and physical details of all properties within their portfolios with the Valuations Office Agency (VOA).

 

Increasing the administrative burden on businesses, it will require prompt updates to the VOA and annual returns even where there are no changes, with penalty risks for non-compliance. The complexity of business rates management will increase with measures anticipated to be fully in place for the 2026 Revaluation.

 

Material Change of Circumstance (MCC)

 

Legislative changes to Material Change of Circumstance provisions took immediate effect in October 2023. They tighten the scope of MCCs in England so that new legislation, licensing regimes and guidance from public bodies will not be grounds for a change in Rateable Value between revaluations.

 

Completion Notices

 

For buildings that have been temporarily removed from the rating list during redevelopment, billing authorities will be able to issue Completion Notices in the same way as for a new building. The regulatory changes should be in effect from January 2024.

 

Scotland

 

Since January 2023, Scotland’s new legislation has transferred Valuation Appeals to the Scottish Courts Tribunal service. This entails strict deadlines and rigorous requirements for ratepayers and advisors. All appeals against valuations from April 2023 should have been submitted as a comprehensive case with supporting data by 31 August 2023. Learn more about how to appeal business rates in Scotland >

How we can help

Bringing vast experience and industry-specific knowledge, our specialists offer expert insights on how to minimise business rate liabilities. We understand the complexity of the healthcare sector (whether NHS, private or not-for-profit), ranging from the latest acute hospitals through to specialist rehabilitation centres and emerging care plus formats. Our approach is as far removed from a one-off ‘in-and-out’ rating appeal service as it is possible to imagine. We stay close to clients throughout the revaluation period, tracking changes to estates, spotting opportunities for mitigation and providing regular liability forecasting and strategic advice.

  • Review and Appeal

    We know when to appeal and when to leave well alone. Our experience of a diverse range of properties and locations across the UK gives us a tangible edge in our negotiations. This insight and our forensic attention to detail translate into successful appeal strategies.

  • Budgeting and Forecasting

    We can provide certainty with the accuracy of rate bills and can account for future new builds and other changes in your accrual reports, which are crucial when budgeting for new sites and capital investments.

  • Council Tax

    Healthcare properties often straddle the boundary between domestic (Council Tax) and non-domestic (Business Rates).  We are experienced in analysing the specific operations of individual sites to ensure that the distinction between the two regimes is applied correctly.

  • Disturbances and Deletions

    As well as advising in respect of the impact of physical changes, including demolitions and temporary disturbances, we also work closely with the Valuation Office Agency and Scottish Assessors to manage and, where possible, ‘prior-agree’ alterations to assessments to reflect these changes.

  • Exemptions and Reliefs

    We ensure all applicable reliefs are properly applied. And as legislation changes, we stay at the forefront of devising innovative solutions to problems posed by the changes. For example, while charitable and other not-for-profit healthcare providers can qualify for charitable rate relief for now, this is under increased scrutiny from billing authorities and the courts.

  • Historic Rates Audit

    Our historic rates audit ensures that past errors and overpayments are resolved and refunded.

  • Rates Payment Management Service (RPMS)

    We offer the market-leading rate payment management service to ensure you only ever pay the correct rates liability.

  • Vacant Properties

    As specialised operational sites, healthcare properties are infrequently vacant. However, in specific circumstances empty rates can become chargeable; here, we work with operators to explore every opportunity to mitigate the liability. This can include removing a redundant property from the Rating List or securing discretionary rate relief for partly occupied properties.

Case studies

Why us?

We’re sector experts.

Procurement

We are on several procurement frameworks, including Crown Commercial Services, NHS Shared Business Services and Bloom, enabling quick and efficient appointment from a range of organisations.

Expertise

As leading healthcare business rates advisors, we have led negotiations with the Valuation Office Agency and Scottish Assessors across a range of property types including NHS hospitals and health centres, private hospitals, and ambulance stations, securing lower bases of valuation for the benefit of the whole sector.

Minimising Risk

We offer crucial strategic advice, helping healthcare providers manage business rates efficiently so there are no unforeseen risks. We advise across the whole building lifecycle, identifying risks and opportunities, allowing operators to plan and budget accordingly.

Key Facts

£9.3m

total Rateable Value handled

£1.3bn

client savings since 2017, £3.8 bn since 2010

25%

of the FTSE represented

£1bn

rate liability processed each year as UK's leading outsourced ratepayer

Key contacts

Richard Ayres

Partner
Business Rates
London – West End

Charlie Wacher

Partner
London – West End

Helen Edwards

Partner
Business Rates
Cardiff

Graham Howarth

Partner
Business Rates
Glasgow

Revaluation 2023

Many businesses may have an opportunity to reduce their business rates liability. Are you one of them?

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