Case No. UKUT-311-(LC)-UTLC-Case-Number:-LC-2022-105

1.This is an appeal by Simon Earle Racing Limited against a decision of the Valuation Tribunal for England (“the VTE”) dated 7 February 2022, in which it determined an appeal against a decision notice issued by the Valuation Officer (“the VO”) at a rateable value of £13,750 for the Lower Barn at The Beeches, Deverill Road, Sutton Veny, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 7BY (“the property”). The effective date of the decision was 30 October 2018 this being the date on which the property was first entered in the Rating List as a separate hereditament. It is described in the Rating List as “Racing Stables and Premises”.2.In this appeal the appellant sought a rateable value of £12,000 based on £485 per stable and the respondent sought to increase the VTE’s determination to rateable value £15,000 based on £630 per stable.3.The appellant was represented at the hearing by Mr Christopher Marriott MA FRICS IRRV (Hons) and the respondent by Mr Roy Albert BSc (Hons) MRICS. Mr Marriott is the sole director of Marriott Brown Ltd and began his career as a Cadet Valuer with the Valuation Office in 1972. He has been valuing equestrian properties since he entered private practice in 1986 and is rating advisor to the National Trainers’ Federation. Mr Albert joined the Valuation Office Agency (“VOA”) in 2004 and has been dealing with rating cases since 2017. He is a Lead Valuer in the Regional Valuation Unit based at Bristol. The case was conducted under the simplified procedure and the representatives acted as both advocates and expert witnesses. I am grateful to them both for their assistance.4.I inspected the property on 11 July 2022 accompanied by Mr Marriott and Mr Albert. I was shown the stables where the horses are kept, the adjacent offices and stores, a large horse walker used for exercising the horses, paddocks and nearby gallops. I will say more about these facilities later in the decision. On the same day I inspected comparable properties in Wiltshire and Hampshire and I will examine these in detail as part of the decision.