Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977

Rating of owners instead of occupiers in certain cases N.I.

20.— [F1 (1) Subject to the provisions of this Order, rates shall be payable by, and levied on, the owner, instead of the occupier, of a hereditament if any of the following sub-paragraphs applies—

(a) the net annual value of the hereditament does not exceed £750;

(b) the capital value of the hereditament does not exceed £55,000;

(c) both the following conditions are satisfied—

(i) the rent of the hereditament is payable or is collected at intervals shorter than quarterly or the tenancy agreement (if any, and all of them if more than one) does not provide when it is payable or collected; and

(ii) either its net annual value does not exceed £1,590 or its capital value does not exceed £150,000;

(d) separate parts of the hereditament are let as apartments or lodgings; or

(e) the hereditament consists of or includes a house in multiple occupation.

(1A) Where a hereditament has a net annual value and a capital value, both conditions in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) or, as the case may be, in sub-paragraph (c)(ii) of paragraph (1) must be satisfied.

(1B) In paragraph (1)(e) “house in multiple occupation” has the same meaning as in Part IV of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (NI 15) except that—

(a) a person under the age of 16 shall not be treated as a qualifying person for the purposes of that definition; and

(b) paragraphs (5) and (6) of Article 31AA shall apply for the purposes of determining whether a person is a member of another person's family for the purposes of this paragraph as they apply for the purposes of that Article.]

(2) Where any owner is rated under this Article, he shall be entitled to such relief in respect of any non-occupation of the hereditament as he would have been entitled to receive had he been rated as the occupier in respect thereof.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (1), so long as a person who has wilfully entered upon a hereditament [F2 to which (subject to paragraph (1A)) sub-paragraph (a), (b) or (e) of paragraph (1) applies] with intent wrongfully to take possession of, or use, the hereditament is in occupation of the hereditament without the permission of the owner, that person, and not the owner, shall be chargeable to rates in respect of the hereditament.

(4) There shall be allowed to each owner who is rated under this Article and pays the amount due from him on account of the rate on or before the date of the expiration of—

(a) half the year for which the rate is madeF3 . . . ; or

(b) one month from the date of service of the demand note on which the rate is levied;

whichever is the later, an allowance equal to 7½ per cent. of the amount payable.

[F4 (5) The Department may by order made subject to affirmative resolution substitute a different limit for any limit specified in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c)(ii); but any such order shall not affect any person's liability for rates for any period before the coming into force of the first new valuation list to come into force after the date of the order, being a valuation list relevant to the net annual value or capital value of the hereditament in question.]

F1 Art. 20(1)(1A)(1B) substituted (1.4.2007) for art. 20(1) by Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/2954 (N.I. 18)), arts. 1(3), 35(2); S.R. 2006/464, art. 2(4)

F2 Words in art. 20(3) substituted (1.4.2007) by Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/2954 (N.I. 18)), arts. 1(3), 35(3); S.R. 2006/464, art. 2(4)

F3 1983 NI 7

F4 Art. 20(5) substituted (1.4.2007) by Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/2954 (N.I. 18)), arts. 1(3), 35(4); S.R. 2006/464, art. 2(4)