The retail and hotel sectors were the big winners and warehouses and offices were the big losers in Northern Ireland’s draft 2023 valuation list published last week, according to Colliers.
There was a -0.6% change in overall values from 2020 to 2023, with total NAV for retail down 4% on 2020 values and total NAV for hotels down 24%. On the flipside, warehouses’ NAVs increased by 12% and offices increased by 10%.
According to Colliers, 64.4% of the 75,000 non-domestic properties in Northern Ireland saw no change or a decrease in their NAV, but 35.6% properties saw an increase.
David Hughes, associate director at Colliers, based in Northern Ireland, said: “Given the antecedent valuation date (AVD) for the current 2020 valuation list was pre-Covid-19 (1 April 2018) and the new AVD for the upcoming list was 1 October 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, we are surprised that over a third of property revaluations have increased. In many cases we feel these are strongly incorrect and we urge ratepayers who are not happy to engage with the LPS pre-list publication as soon as possible.
“Belfast is a case in point. Whilst prime Belfast office rents have increased in recent years, the effects of Covid-19 are still being felt in the market and will continue to be felt approaching the material date for the 2023 valuation list. We therefore believe these should be reflected in the rateable values accordingly.”
The draft 2023 valuation list for Northern Ireland can be viewed here https://valuationservices.finance-ni.gov.uk/DraftSchedule/Search
