Council tax / rates and bills

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1alex1moose

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I'm currently looking at setting up my own livery yard. I think I have the yard I want to rent, the experience required and the willingness to work like an idiot (I already do all this for someone else so figured I may as well do it myself!)

I have crunched all my numbers and worked out that with full livery, a bit of exercising and a couple of horses to sell I can just about break even and maybe make 50p!

The only problem is I'm struggling to find out how much I can expect to pay for council tax or rates. I'm looking at a 15 box yard in the south east. Also the same problem for elec and water bills.

Help and a few figures from anyone with the numbers would be great. (yes I know I'm a nutter and that I'll be poor forever etc)

Thanks :)
 
Why not ask the person who owns the yard, or the person who is currently renting it? They will no to the penny how much they pay, which is what you also will pay.
 
ring up the council

(sometimes it pays to do the obvious!!)

in a similar situation i rang and spoke to the business rates person who offered to come out and look at the yard, what i was intending to do, etc and give me budgetary figures

as it happened for reasons i won't bore you with, i didn't take this up...

but from the conversation i had it's not as easy as 15 times their standard stable rate, it depends on size, condition, construction etc, etc..
the only fig they could give me over the phone was the charge per sqm for a school.

also you are likely to be able to claim back as a startup venture and/or get an initial discounted rate

also, if for instance, you only use the school in the winter you can get a rebate for the summer months.

there are also 'ruses' around business and personal use, eg no business rates on stables used exclusively for your own private horses

so, ring them up, get them out, and ask about available discounts

best regards
 
I would talk to the people who currently have it, and the council. I know from when I ran a business there is small business rate relief available
 
If you have the address/postcode of the property and it is currently paying business rates then you will be able to find out how much the rateable value (and from that the rates bill) on the Valuation Office (VOA) website. The Rateable Value is not what you will pay in rates though as each year a multiplier is applied to this to get the rates payable, plus there may be other discounts you may be entitled to.
 
Go onto the valuation office website and you should be able to find it on there, if it is already rated. This will give you the rateable value - not the actual rates you pay. So you pay the rateable value times the multiplier, so don't be shocked by the rateable value you see. You also need to make yourself aware of things like SBRR (small business rates relief) and make sure you apply for it - the council won't tell you you're eligible, you will have to make an effort to ask for it, and it depends on the rateable value and you can't have any other businesses in your name, apart from this one. You are also allowed to have a certain number of boxes for your own personal use;)
 
Thanks one and all. Def going to start investigating further. VoA website was helpful so I'll sit down and crunch my numbers and work out if i can make more than 50p a year!
 
i work on NNDR for a living, livery yards are subject to business rates, how ever if the RV (rateable value) is below £6,000 you can apply for small business rates relief, which will make you exempt from the rates 100% until 1st april 2013.

Wont know until october if this is going to be exteneded or not.

As said it is something you have to apply for, but you can download the forms of the local council website. You can send it back via email but it has to be printed off, filled in manually and then scanned back in.

any further info, just pm me :) more than happy to help.
 
1alex1moose said:
Thanks one and all. Def going to start investigating further. VoA website was helpful so I'll sit down and crunch my numbers and work out if i can make more than 50p a year!
Click to expand...

also just to clarify.

it isnt based on how much you earn. Its a property tax so is payable regardless if a business is doing well or not.

Hope this helps
 
and because you pay it on all your facilities whether or not they are used, it explains why YOs have to stuff the yard full as they are paying business rates all the time the stables are empty!
 
Heres a basic break down how its calculated

example

RV £6500 x 0.458 (Current multiplyer 2012/2013) = £2,977.00 payable april 1st 12 through 31st March 13.

If a premises is empty a YO can receive 3 months exemption if was not already exhausted previous to take over. If it was the premises has to be occupied for 6 weeks to be able to receive it again.

Small business relief can only be applied if the premises is occupied, if unoccupied 100% payable after 3months exemption exhausted.

The rateable value is calculated from 4 things
1. The area
2. The size (square foot)
3. The Use
4. The condition

so yes this is why most yard owners will cram empty stables up so they can get the SBR :cool:
 
just so that no expects to much intellegent jargon on other subjects...this is the only one im 100% happy to sound clever about! haha


and also word on the grape vine is that govourment are throwing in extra help for new businesses but depends on the council. We havent got 100% clarification it is just rumers! but if i hear any think ill pop a post up as obviously a lot of business/YOs on here :)
 
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