Ascensos occupy two separate office locations in Clydebank Business Park, Stirling House and Unit 3-4 Blair Court.
The out of town office market within West Central Scotland experienced significant growth prior to the economic downturn from 2008 with strong demand for leasing and purchase. This demand saw a number of new office parks created around the periphery of Glasgow and the surrounding towns such as Clydebank. However in line with the UK as a whole, this market has since experienced a significant decline in occupier demand and this should be reflected in rates values accordingly.
As part of the 1 April 2017 rates revaluation process, through extensive negotiation with the Dunbartonshire Assessor’s office, we were able to agree through negotiated settlement that the combined Rateable Value (RV) for Stirling House should be reduced from £142,000 to £104,000 and the aggregate RV for their interest at 3-4 Blair Court be reduced from £98,650 to £72,300. This showed RV reductions of around 25% and 30% respectively.
Prior to the 2017 revaluation, the RV had been based on a rental rate of £130/m2. For the 2017 revaluation the Assessor reduced the applied rental rate to £75/m2. However, given our extensive knowledge of the local market we were not satisfied that the reduction in value was sufficient and was still in excess of the going rate for that location. Therefore having appealed the values for both buildings, we proved that the values should in fact reflect rates of £55/m2, leading to the reduced values stated above.
Over the five year revaluation cycle, this has led to rates savings of approaching of £100,000 for Stirling House and over £60,000 for Blair Court.
This result highlights the importance of seeking professional advice for business rates matters and also how detailed local market knowledge can have a significant positive impact. Please do contact our team to see how we can help you.
Please do get in touch to see how we can help you via contact our team at businessratesadvice.com