Arma Hotels Ltd v Dawn Bunyan (Valuation Officer)
Decision date: 25 January 2023
Neutral citation: [2023] UKUT 3 (LC)
Overall AI summary confidence: high
Short overview
This short overview is intended to summarise the case, issues and outcome so far as they are supported by the judgment.
AI confidence in this short overview: high
This appeal concerned the 2017 rateable value of a small Brent hotel and whether a reliable "tone of the list" or comparable rents supported a per-bedroom valuation or whether the shortened receipts & expenditure (R&E) method should be used. The Upper Tribunal found the evidence of a 2017 list tone for small hotels in Brent/Harrow was insufficient, preferred the shortened R&E approach, assessed fair maintainable trade at about £155,000 and applied a 10.5% percentage to fix the rateable value at £16,250. The appeal was allowed in part.
Ratio decidendi
This summary is intended to identify the ratio decidendi, meaning the legal reasons for deciding and the binding part of the decision.
AI confidence in this ratio decidendi summary: high
Where comparable rental evidence is sparse and purported list assessments are untested or have recently been reviewed by the Valuation Office, limited weight should be given to a claimed "tone of the list"; in such circumstances, and for small, independently owned hotels, the shortened receipts & expenditure method based on fair maintainable trade at the relevant antecedent valuation date is an appropriate valuation approach.
Obiter dicta
This summary is intended to identify obiter dicta, meaning observations made by the way that were not necessary to deciding the case and are not binding.
AI confidence in this obiter dicta summary: medium
The Tribunal observed that the CCA process and COVID-19 reliefs can delay or distort the development of a tone of the list, and that Valuation Officer-led reviews to correct perceived base values are a proper statutory exercise but do not of themselves establish a settled tone until tested or settled.