Under Article 25A of the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977, as amended, (“the 1977 Order”), rates are payable on unoccupied properties that fall within a class prescribed by Regulations. The Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Hereditaments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007, (S.R. 2007 No. 119 as amended by S.R. 2010 No. 37) (“the 2007 Regulations”) prescribed a class of property consisting of all non-domestic buildings or parts of buildings except those listed in the Schedule to those Regulations.

These Regulations revoke and replace the 2007 Regulations to prescribe domestic buildings and parts of buildings as well as non-domestic buildings or parts of buildings for the purposes of Article 25A of the 1977 Order. This means that unoccupied domestic property becomes rateable.

The exceptions to the prescription are set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

By virtue of Article 25A of, and Schedule 8A to, the 1977 Order rates are payable on an unoccupied domestic property at the same level as if the property was occupied. Rates are payable on an unoccupied non-domestic property at 50% of the amount which would be payable if the property was occupied.