Section 44a relief is a temporary discretionary relief which may be awarded to ratepayers who are only using part of their premises and the unoccupied area is completely unused.
This relief can only be awarded for a maximum of 3 months, or 6 months in the case of industrial properties. For the financial year 2010/11 if the property, when vacant, would be exempt the relief would be extended until 31st March 2011.
To qualify the vacant part must be empty for a temporary period and clearly defined.
If you apply for this relief you will normally be asked to provide a plan of the property showing the empty areas and we will need to visit the property periodically to confirm it is empty.
Once the application is accepted we will request a certificate from the Valuation Office Agency which shows the rateable value for the empty and occupied portions. Your bill will then be recalculated according to the certificate.
When a property is vacated or occupied in stages we will need to visit each time the empty part changes and we will ask the Valuation Office Agency (External link) to provide a new certificate each time.
