Local Government Act 1974

16 Rating surcharge on unused office, etc., property

The following sections shall be inserted after section 17 of the principal Act:—

“17A Liability to progressive surcharge in respect of unused office, etc., property.

(1) If for a continuous period exceeding six months a commercial building is not used for the purpose for which it was constructed or has been adapted, its owner shall pay in respect of that period (the 'period of non-use') a surcharge additional to the rates (if any) payable apart from this section.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply where—

(a) the owner has tried his best to let the building, or

(b) the condition of the building makes it unfit for use for the purpose for which it was constructed or has been adapted, and it cannot be rendered fit at a cost which is reasonable in relation to the value of that use.

(3) Where the owner is in occupation of the building throughout the period of non-use, the surcharge shall be levied in the form of rates by doubling the normal rates for the first twelve months of the period of non-use, trebling the normal rates for the second twelve months, quadrupling the normal rates for the third twelve months, and so on progressively while the period of non-use lasts.

In this subsection ' the normal rates', in relation to any period, means the rates payable in respect of that period apart from this section (taking rates as accruing uniformly from day to day); and where the period of non-use extends through part only of any twelve-month period, the surcharge shall be calculated by reference to the normal rates for that part.

(4) Where the owner is not in occupation of the building throughout the period of non-use—

(a) the amount of the surcharge shall be the same as it would have been if the owner had been in occupation of the building throughout the period of non-use, and

(b) the surcharge shall be levied in the form of rates of that amount as if they were payable by the owner in respect of that occupation.

(5) In determining whether or not the owner has tried his best to let the building, regard shall be had to the following, as well as other relevant factors—

(a) the rent sought, compared with rents of similar properties in the area,

(b) the other covenants and conditions required by the owner to be contained in any proposed lease,

(c) whether or not the owner indicated to prospective lessees that he was prepared to let the building in parts,

(d) the number and resources of the firms of estate agents retained for the purpose of letting the building, and

(e) the nature and extent of advertising of the building by the owner or those agents.

17B Supplemental provisions as to section 17A.

(1) A rating authority may serve a notice on the owner of any commercial building requiring him to make a written return containing such particulars as may be reasonably required by the authority for the purposes of section 17A of this Act; and subsections (3) to (6) of section 82 of this Act shall apply to a notice under this subsection as they apply to a notice under section 82, as if—

(a) the reference in section 82(3) to the valuation officer were a reference to the rating authority, and

(b) the penalties laid down by section 82(4) and (5) were—

(i) on summary conviction, a fine not exceeding £400; and

(ii) on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both.

(2) References in section 17A of this Act and this section to a commercial building are references to a hereditament (not being a dwellinghouse, or a hereditament having a floor space not exceeding 240 square feet and used as a lock-up garage) whose net annual value falls to be ascertained under section 19(2) of this Act; and if during a period of non-use a commercial building is divided into two or more hereditaments, the amount of any surcharge imposed under section 17A of this Act in respect of any of those hereditaments shall be the same as if it had been a separate hereditament from the beginning of the period of non-use.

(3) A surcharge imposed under section 17A of this Act in respect of a hereditament shall until recovered be a charge on the land comprised in the hereditament; and for the purposes of the application to such a charge of section 15 (registration of local land charges) of the [1925 c. 22.] Land Charges Act 1925 this Act shall be deemed to be a similar statute to the Acts mentioned in subsection (1) of that section.

(4) Where a hereditament which is not used for the purpose for which it was constructed or has been adapted becomes so used on any day and becomes not so used again on the expiration of a period of less than six weeks beginning with that day, then for the purpose of ascertaining any period during which the hereditament has been continuously not so used, it shall be deemed to have remained not so used on that day and during that period.

(5) A hereditament shall be taken to be used on any day for the purposes for which it was constructed or has been adapted if, but only if, not less than four-fifths of it was so used on that day.

(6) Schedule 1 to this Act (except paragraphs 1, 2(c) and (d), 6, 12 and 14) shall apply for the purposes of section 17A of this Act as it applies for the purposes of section 17 thereof, as if—

(a) references to paragraph 1 of that Schedule were references to section 17A of this Act,

(b) references to a relevant hereditament or a relevant period of vacancy were references to a commercial building and a period of non-use respectively, and

(c) references to three months were references to six months.

(7) In section 17A of this Act and this section 'owner' means the person entitled to possession, and where different persons are entitled to possession of a hereditament during different parts of a period of non-use, a surcharge in respect of that period shall be apportioned between them according to the length of each part and levied accordingly.

(8) In the application of section 17(A) of this Act to the City of London, ' rates' means the aggregate of the poor rate and the general rate.

(9) Section 17A of this Act shall not apply to any period before the passing of the Local Government Act 1974.”