What is a rateable value?
Rateable values have always been used by water and sewerage companies to calculate unmetered charges. They were used until 1990 as the basis of the general rate bill payable to the local council. The values were assessed and changed by the Valuation Office of the Inland Revenue and were loosely based on the annual rental value of a property.
What is the rateable value based on?
The rateable values we use now were assessed any time between 1973 and 1990. A number of factors were taken into account by the Valuation Office when assessing the potential annual rental value. These included the size of the property and plot, area, general condition and availability of local services.
We have no details of how individual values were calculated and cannot tell you why similar properties in the same street have slightly different values.
The government introduced the Community Charge (poll tax) in April 1990 and at that time the Valuation Office stopped assessing or changing rateable values, as the Local Authority now had a new way to charge.
The community charge was in turn replaced by the council tax and the Valuation Office Agency started assessing Council Tax bands. Unlike the rateable value, these bands are based on the market value of the property, rather than the annual rental value. This means that the two assessments cannot be compared and a change in the Council Tax band does not mean that the rateable values should also be changed.
Can my rateable value be changed?
The Valuation Office no longer change rateable values and water companies have never been able to change them, so any home improvements to a property since 1990 are not reflected in the rateable values that we use. In cases where the rateable value is clearly invalid, for example if a property is redeveloped and split into flats, the only option available is to fit a water meter and charge on usage.
Initially water companies were allowed to use rateable values as a basis of charge until 31 March 2000. However this deadline was removed by changes in the law (The Water Industry Act 1999) which gave companies the right to continue using rateable values to calculate a bill for properties without a water meter. At the same time the law was change to allow household customers the option of having a water meter fitted free of charge.
All properties built since 1990 have a water meter installed.
How does rateable value affect my bill?
The important thing to remember is that a rateable value based charge is not related to the actual amount of water you use. The calculation is simply the rateable value multiplied by a charge for each service (water and/or sewerage). Single occupier discount given for Council Tax does not apply to water charges.
Can I change the way my charges are calculated?
You may wish to consider having a water meter fitted. Your charges will then be calculated on the amount of water that you use. The good news is that we can arrange for a water meter to be fitted free of charge.
If you would like to request a water meter you can either