The LGA has published its Response to the MHCLG Consultation on the administration of council tax, including council tax collection practises.

HM Treasury has published an Interim Report on TRANSFORMING BUSINESS RATES. The Government aims to provide a further update in the AUTUMN BUDGET on its plans to update the system.

R ( MORLEY ) v SURREY HEATH BC ( 2025 ) EWHC 1678 ( Admin ) is concerned with the collection of unpaid council tax pursuant to the LOGAL GOVERNMENT FINANCEACT 1992 and Regulation 34 of the COUNCIL TAX ( Administration and Enforcement ) REGULATIONS 1992 . It is held unlawful for the Council to issue a SUMMONS demanding, as a pre-condition for avoiding an Application to a Magistrates’ Court for a LIABILITY ORDER , payment of a sum derived from a calculation which included the costs of applying for Liability Orders.

In CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION v 48th STREET HOLDING LTD ( 2025 ) EWHC 1130 ( KB ) it is held that an “ intermittent occupation “ rates mitigation scheme, designed to secure for the owner of a EMPTY PROPERTY a series of EXEMPTIONS from the liability to pay non-domestic rates, was effective for that purpose. The scheme satisfied the LAING criteria for rateable occupation and did not fall foul of the RAMSAY principle.

The Non-Domestic Rates ( Designated Areas ) Regulations 2025, S.I. 2025/180, form part of the rates retention system. They allow local authorities to retain 100% rather than 50% of growth in business rates income in specified areas. They designate 6 areas, primarily in the East Midlands and the North East.

In the common situation of a house in MULTIPLE OCCUPATION where each of the bedrooms is ( 1 ) lockable and ( 2 ) EXCLUSIVELY OCCUPIED by a separate tenant, who shares the common parts, STANUSZEK v BUNYAN ( Listing Officer ) ( No 2 ) ( 2025 ) EWHC 255 ( Admin ) holds that each falls to be assessed for council tax purposes under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as a SEPARATE DWELLING/hereditament. It is irrelevant that the tenants share the common areas of the house, which include a kitchen and a living room. A single hereditament cannot contain discrete parts occupied by different persons. “ Occupation “ of a space in rating law as defined by the Court of Appeal in JS LAING v KINGSWOOD ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE requires exclusive possession of that space. Applying the geographical WOOLWAY v MAZARS Supreme Court test on the identification of an hereditament each bedroom in the HMO was “ capable “ of being a separate and discrete hereditament, AND it was separately occupied.

In St BENEDICT’S LAND TRUST v KING’S LYNN & W NORFOLK BC (2024) EWHC 3118 (Ch) it is held that a claim about a local authority’s refusal of charitable relief in respect of an hereditament can be brought as a private law claim or by judicial review proceedings.

The Non-Domestic Rating ( Multipliers etc ) Bill makes provision for, and in connection with, the introduction of (1) higher multi[pliers for large hereditaments, and (2) lower multipliers for (i) retail, (ii) hospitality, and (ii) leisure hereditaments , in England.

Part 1 of the Local Government Finance ( Wales ) Act 2024 relates to Non-Domestic Rates. It amends in relation to Wales the Local Government Finance Act 1988. Part 2 of the Act relates to Council Tax. It amends in relation to Wales the Local Government Finance Act 19992. Part 3 contains general provisions.

In Z v MOORE (2024) UKUT 204 ( LC ) a business unit comprised both a warehouse and an office. It is held to be a single hereditament. The parts were not sef contained and were not severable. There was a single territorial block. The uunit was physically a single whole with a paramount occupier.