Rating transitional relief appeals face 6-month deadline as 2017 scheme closes

An appeal against a transitional relief certificate must now be served within 6 months beginning with the date the certificate was issued.GOV The previous position for the 2010 and 2017 lists — no time limit while the schemes were in forceGOV — is gone: late certification appeals are treated as invalidGOV, under the same policy applied to out-of-time proposals, and the appellant is told the appeal is invalid.

The window comes from the current rating lists' own regulations. Appeals for the 2023 list schemes sit under regulation 24 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2022GOV, and appeals for the 2026 list scheme under regulation 23 of the 2026 RegulationsGOV. In each case an interested person dissatisfied with a certified value appeals by serving a notice on the valuation officer stating the reasons for dissatisfaction; unless the notice is withdrawn or officer and appellant agree the value in writing, the officer must refer the disagreement to the Valuation Tribunal for England. Parts 2, 4 and 5 of the Appeals Procedure Regulations apply, and an interested person takes the meaning those Regulations give it — the occupier and anyone else with a legal estate or qualifying equitable interest in any part of the hereditament, other than a mortgagee not in possession.

The 2017 scheme is closed.GOV Regulation 24 of the 2026 Regulations revoked the 2016 Regulations' certificate and appeal provisions for the 2017 schemeGOV, so there is no longer any requirement in England to certify values for the 2017 list after 1 April 2026GOV — no further 2017 certificates should be produced, save an amended certificate issued to settle a transitional relief certificate appealGOV. Certificates saved under the ongoing-appeal saving (regulation 20(7) of the 2016 Regulations) continue only where the appeal has not been finally disposed of.Legislation

The appeal itself need not use any prescribed form: the regulations require only the reasons for dissatisfaction, and benefit of doubt on validity goes to the appellant. It should be in writing, served on the appropriate valuation officer, giving the hereditament address, the appellant's name and address, and the reasons. An appellant need not have received a copy of the certificate — certificates are served on the occupier and the billing authority, not routinely on agents — and the appeal lies against the Certificate of Value, not against the decision to certify or not to certify.

An appeal can be withdrawn or settled by agreement at any time before the Valuation Tribunal hearing begins; withdrawal needs only a form or a letter identifying the certificate appealed, with copies to the billing authority and to the Tribunal if papers were transmitted. Unresolved appeals go to the Tribunal, with papers transmitted through the Rating Support Application — best practice is quarterly transmission for appeals outstanding more than four weeks. The Tribunal clerk gives at least four weeks' notice of the hearing, and certificate appeals follow the pre-CCA evidence rules: two weeks before the hearing, appellant and valuation officer must each serve the evidence they will rely on upon the Tribunal and upon each other. A settlement reached after listing means notifying the clerk immediately; the agreed value is issued as an amended certificate carrying the suffix A. Where the Tribunal determines a different value, an amended certificate must likewise issue — and there is no appeal against that amended certificate.

Legal basis: regulation 24 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2022 SI 1403 and regulations 23 to 24 of the 2026 Regulations SI 81, with Parts 2, 4 and 5 of the Appeals Procedure Regulations SI 2009/2269.