Companies feel business rates pain

14 January 2014 Last updated at 07:21 GMT

Companies across Wales feel the pain of business rates

By Sarah Dickins BBC Wales economics correspondent

Leonard Cole says he has no choice but to pass the cost of rate increases on

Some businesses are paying twice as much in rates as they should, according to a Welsh property expert.

Historically business rates were set at about half the cost of a property's rent.

But chartered surveyors Cooke and Arkwright said some companies were now paying an equal amount for both.

Assembly members are to discuss business rates and decide if they should cap increases below the rate of inflation.

Newport is one of the parts of Wales where the problem is most acute.

Leonard Cole has run a shop repairing watches in the centre of Newport since 1965, and works there with his nephew Robert Gibbs.

He said the rateable value of his property rose from £12,000 to £20,000 in the last revaluation and he had no other choice than to pass the cost onto his customers.

On Tuesday, assembly members will consider whether to follow the chancellor's Autumn Statement decision to cap business rates at 2%, instead of the inflation rate of more than 3%.

Rates rising

For the last 20 years business rates have in theory been set at about half the level a property would cost to rent.

Once the rateable value is set, rates increase annually in line with inflation.

But the last valuation was in 2008, at the peak of the market, and just before the financial crisis.

Since then shoppers have been spending less, businesses are less profitable and commercial rents have fallen.

But rates are still set on the valuations of what commercial properties are worth.

The next revaluation is not scheduled to take place until 2017.

Andrew West, of Cooke and Arkwright, said that in effect, businesses in some parts of Wales were paying twice as much in rates as they should be - and some were even paying more in rates than they were for rent.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said its members were extremely concerned about the issue.

Rhodri Evans, from FSB, said it was an extra cost members had to bear and he is calling on the Welsh government to reform the rating system as soon as possible to help businesses on Welsh high streets.