Key Facts
- •Appeal concerning the rating of equestrian facilities at Holdenby North Lodge farm.
- •Valuation Officer (VO) argued the farm is a single hereditament; respondent argued it comprises two: a licensed racing yard and a point-to-point yard.
- •Farm occupied under tenancy agreement by a partnership including the respondent.
- •Respondent holds a license from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) to operate the racing yard.
- •Point-to-point yard operated by respondent's husband without a separate tenancy.
- •Both yards shared facilities (gallops, horse walker), and their income and expenses were included in the farm partnership's accounts.
- •Operation of both yards ceased in 2022.
Legal Principles
Definition of a hereditament relies on case law, as statute only defines it by reference to a valuation list's separate items.
Local Government Finance Act 1988, s.64(1); General Rate Act 1967, s.115(1)
Primary test for determining a hereditament is geographical; functional test may be relevant to break up or unite geographically dispersed units.
Woolway (VO) v Mazars LLP [2015] UKSC 53
Rateable occupation requires actual, exclusive (for the possessor's purposes), beneficial, and non-transient occupation.
John Laing & Son Ltd v Assessment Committee for Kingswood Assessment Area [1949] 1 KB 344
Paramount occupation determines rateability where multiple parties occupy the same land; landlord's occupation is often paramount over lodger's.
Hollywell Union and Halkyn Parish v Halkyn District Mines Drainage Co [1895] AC 117; Westminster Council v Southern Railway Co [1936] AC 511
Degree of control is crucial in determining rateable occupation; ability to require vacating demonstrates significant control.
Ludgate House Ltd v Ricketts (VO) [2020] EWCA Civ 1637
Shared economic benefit and purpose can indicate joint occupation, even with restricted use rights.
Cardtronics UK Ltd v Sykes [2020] UKSC 21; Prosser KC v Ricketts (VO) [2024] UKUT 264 (LC)
Outcomes
Appeal allowed.
Farm is a single, composite hereditament in joint rateable occupation of the partnership, including the respondent. The respondent's licensed racing yard activity, while distinct, is not a separate hereditament due to the integrated nature of the business operations on the farm.