MSHB

Business Rates And Revaluation

Business rates, also known as non-domestic rates, are taxes paid to the Scottish Government on the right to use and occupy commercial property. Business rates are based on the rateable value of a property. It is the Independent Scottish Assessors that determine this rateable value. To calculate the amount paid by ratepayers, the rateable value is taken and then multiplied by the rate’s poundage. On 1^st April 2023, all rateable properties will be revalued causing significant change to business rates across Scotland.

Plans have been lodged in Edinburgh for a campus-style office development with a major focus on wellbeing and sustainability. The proposed site for Edinburgh Green is set within the existing site of Drummond House and the Younger Building in Edinburgh Park. London-based property manager Shelborn Asset Management has filed plans with Edinburgh City Council after purchasing the site from NatWest Group in 2021. The proposal seeks to deliver a new approach to open space with modern amenities and a transportation and mobility hub, in close alignment with Edinburgh’s pathway to Net Zero.^[1]

Planning applications have been lodged with Glasgow City Council in conjunction with the £150 million redevelopment of Shawlands Arcade on Kilmarnock Road in southside. Planning has been submitted by the Arcade’s owners Clydebuilt, a property investment and development fund co-owned by Strathclyde Pension Fund and Ediston Real Estate.

The impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns has resulted in an unprecedented shift by employers towards adapting a more flexible working policy. Whilst many companies have now enacted formal hybrid working policies and appear to be moving away from the traditional office unit set up, Scottish commercial property has had its best first half of the year for investment volumes since 2018.^[1] As we move forward from the pandemic, we consider its continued impact on the commercial property market.