BNPPDS Limited & BNPPDS Limited (Jersey) as trustees for Blackrock UK Property Fund v Andrew Ricketts
Decision date: 18 May 2022
Neutral citation: [2022] UKUT 129 (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 rateable value of the Putney Exchange car park and principally whether it should be valued by a full receipts & expenditure (R&E) approach or by the shortened percentage-of-furnishing, fitting and machinery (FMT) method, how to split the divisible balance between tenant and landlord, and how to allow for material changes of circumstance (MCCs). The Tribunal held the car park is in the same mode/category as other multi-storey car parks, rejected the shortened method because rental evidence was insufficient, adopted a full R&E valuation with a 50:50 tenant/landlord split and a 10% reduction for combined MCCs, and fixed rateable value at £211,500.
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 rental evidence is sparse or unreliable, the shortened percentage-of-FMT method should not be used; a full receipts & expenditure valuation, informed by available accounts and reasoned adjustments, is preferable. Also, mode/category distinctions should not be narrowly drawn without persuasive evidence.
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 (not determinatively) that guidance in the Rating Manual and proposed VOA schemes is not binding absent demonstrated agreement or reliable rental evidence, and that expert reliance on post-AVD accounts to capture MCC effects requires careful scrutiny where other site works may have affected receipts.