The British Property Federation (BPF), which represents commercial property landlords, says that the Valuation Office Agency’s draft property valuations, which indicate the level of business rates that business will have to pay from April 2017, should be more frequent.

Melanie Leech, chief executive at the British Property Federation, said: “Everything about the valuations points to the pressing need for more frequent revaluations of business rates. The fact that businesses are currently paying rates based on property values from eight years ago, when our economy looked very different, is ridiculous and it is not surprising that we are seeing some very significant swings in rateable values. 

“We need more frequent revaluations to ensure that changes in the property market filter more gently but also more immediately into business rates liabilities and there would be fewer of the large changes in value that we have seen. More frequent revaluations should also lead to fewer businesses making appeals, because their rateable value would more closely relate to prevailing market conditions. 

“Government recently consulted on bringing in more frequent revaluations in 2021; (this) data suggests this work needs to continue.”