# The Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (Wales) Regulations 2008

W.S.I. 2008/2499 · made 20 September 2008 · revised to 4 November 2024

Section 45 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”) provides that owners of empty non-domestic properties are liable to pay non-domestic rates if certain conditions apply.

Made under: Local Government Finance Act 1988 (Section 45, Section 143, Section 146)

PDFs: Printed copy https://openlegislation.uk/non-domestic-rating-unoccupied-property-wales-regulations-2008/pdf/wsi_20082499_mi.pdf

## Introductory text

RATING AND VALUATION, WALES
Made 20 September 2008
Laid before the National Assembly for Wales 23 September 2008
Coming into force 1 November 2008
The Welsh Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred on the Secretary of State by sections 45(1)(d), (9) and (10), 143(2) and 146(6) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and now vested in them, make the following Regulations:

## 1 Title, application and commencement

(1) The title of these Regulations is The Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (Wales) Regulations 2008 and they come into force on 1 November 2008.
(2) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

## 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations—
“the Act” (“y Ddeddf”) means the Local Government Finance Act 1988;
“qualifying industrial hereditament” (“hereditament diwydiannol cymwys”) means any hereditament, other than a retail hereditament, in relation to which all buildings comprised in the hereditament are—
(a) constructed or adapted for use in the course of a trade or business; and
(b) constructed or adapted for use for one or more of the following purposes, or one or more such purposes and one or more purposes ancillary thereto—
(i) the manufacture, repair or adaptation of goods or materials, or the subjection of goods or materials to any process;
(ii) storage (including the storage or handling of goods in the course of their distribution);
(iii) the working or processing of minerals; and
(iv) the generation of electricity;
“relevant non-domestic hereditament” (“hereditament annomestig perthnasol”) means any non-domestic hereditament consisting of, or of part of, any building, together with any land ordinarily used or intended for use for the purposes of the building or part; and
“retail hereditament” (“hereditament masnachol”) means any hereditament where any building or part of a building comprised in the hereditament is constructed or adapted for the purpose of the retail provision of—
(a) goods, or
(b) services, other than storage for distribution services, where the services are to be provided on or from the hereditament.

## 3 Hereditaments prescribed for the purposes of section 45(1)(d) of the Act

The class of non-domestic hereditaments prescribed for the purposes of section 45(1)(d) of the Act consists of all relevant non-domestic hereditaments other than those described in regulation 4.

## 4 Hereditaments not prescribed for the purposes of section 45(1)(d) of the Act

The relevant non-domestic hereditaments described in this regulation are any hereditament—
(a) the whole of which, subject to regulation 5, has been unoccupied for a continuous period not exceeding three months;
(b) which is a qualifying industrial hereditament and the whole of which, subject to regulation 5, has been unoccupied for a continuous period not exceeding six months;
(c) whose owner is prohibited by law from occupying it or allowing it to be occupied;
(d) which is kept vacant by reason of action taken by or on behalf of the Crown or any local or public authority with a view to prohibiting the occupation of the hereditament or to acquiring it;
(e) which is the subject of a temporary listing notice under section 83 or 84 of the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 or is included in the list maintained under section 76(1) of that Act;
(f) which is included in the Schedule of monuments compiled under section 3 of the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023;
(g) whose rateable value is less than £2,600;
(h) whose owner is entitled to possession only in his or her capacity as the personal representative of a deceased person;
(i) where, in respect of the owner’s estate, there subsists a bankruptcy order within the meaning of section 381(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986;
(j) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(k) whose owner is a company which is subject to a winding-up order made under the Insolvency Act 1986 or which is being wound up voluntarily under that Act;
(l) whose owner is a company in administration within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 or is subject to an administration order made under the former administration provisions within the meaning of article 3 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2003;
(m) whose owner is entitled to possession in his or her capacity as liquidator by virtue of an order made under section 112 or section 145 of the Insolvency Act 1986.

## 5 Continuous occupation

A hereditament which has been unoccupied and becomes occupied on any day is to be treated as having been continuously unoccupied for the purposes of regulation 4(a) and (b) if it becomes unoccupied again on the expiration of a period of less than 26 weeks beginning with that day.

## 6 Hereditaments not previously occupied

For the purposes of regulation 4(a) and (b), a hereditament which has not previously been occupied is to be treated as becoming unoccupied—
(a) on the day determined under paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the General Rate Act 1967, or on the day determined under Schedule 4A to the Act, whichever day first occurs; or
(b) where paragraph (a) does not apply, on the day for which the hereditament is first shown in a local rating list.

## 7 Revocation and saving

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) Regulations 1989 are revoked in their application to Wales.
(2) Those Regulations continue to apply for the purposes of calculating liability for rates in respect of any day before 1 November 2008.

## Signature

Brian Gibbons
Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, one of the Welsh Ministers
20 September 2008

## Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)
Section 45 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”) provides that owners of empty non-domestic properties are liable to pay non-domestic rates if certain conditions apply.
These Regulations re-enact the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) Regulations 1989 (“the 1989 Regulations”) with amendments. In addition to drafting amendments the only change of substance is the inclusion of a new exception for companies in administration (regulation 4(l)).
One of the conditions stipulated by section 45 of the 1988 Act is that the property must fall within a class prescribed by regulations made, in relation to Wales, by the Welsh Ministers.
Regulation 3 prescribes that class as consisting of all buildings or parts of buildings except those listed in regulation 4. Those exceptions include all properties which have been continuously empty for three months or less.
Regulations 5 and 6 contain similar provisions to those in the 1989 Regulations dealing with when a property will be considered to have been continuously empty for three or six months or less and the application of the Regulations to properties which have never been occupied.
The 1989 Regulations were revoked in their application to England by S.I. 2008/386 and these Regulations revoke the 1989 Regulations in their application to Wales.
A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in connection with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained at http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-guide-docs-pub/bus-business-documents/bus-business-documents-doc-laid.htm.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2008/2499 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/non-domestic-rating-unoccupied-property-wales-regulations-2008
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.