Decapitalisation Rate for the 2026 Revaluation: business regulatory impact assessment

Section 2: Engagement and information gathering

Engagement approach

The Scottish Government ran consultations asking the following questions in advance of the 2017 and 2023 revaluations:

1. Should the Scottish Government continue to prescribe decapitalisation rates to be used for the contractor’s basis method of valuation at the 2023 revaluation?

2. Should the Scottish Government continue to prescribe two decapitalisation rates?

3. If prescribing two decapitalisation rates, should the Scottish Government continue to maintain the current groupings of properties in each rate?

4. Do you have any further views on the decapitalisation rates for the 2023 revaluation?

The majority of respondents to both consultations welcomed the continued prescription of decapitalisation rates by the Scottish Government and either supported or have had no objection to there being two decapitalisation rates (standard and lower). There was no predominant view on whether the current groupings of properties in each rate should be maintained.

The Scottish Government did not run a consultation in advance of the 2026 revaluation given the consistency of views, and absence of strong views, on the above matters in previous consultations.

Internal SG engagement/engagement with wider Public Sector

Internal SG engagement

The following government agencies and departments have been consulted :

• Directorate for Legal Services
• Directorate for Local Government and Housing

UK/Devolved Administrations

Officials within the Scottish Government’s Non-Domestic Rates Team are in regular contact with their counterparts in the UK Government and other devolved administrations.

The next revaluation in England and Wales is on 1 April 2026 with a tone date of 1 April 2024. The UK Government and Welsh Government respectively set decapitalisation rates for England and Wales, and are not expected to change the decapitalisation rates for the 2026 revaluation.

Wider Public Sector

Scottish Assessors provided the data to Scottish Government required to apply the common methodologies set out in the literature to calculate appropriate ranges for decapitalisation rates.

International

This matter pertains to the valuation of non-domestic property in Scotland. No engagement has taken place with government organisations in other countries.

Business /Third Sector engagement

As the Scottish Government is not proposing to change the decapitalisation rates or groupings for the 2026 revaluation, and has not previously consulted specifically on what the decapitalisation rates should be (the range within which these should fall being determined by common methodologies described in the literature), it has not consulted in advance of the 2026 revaluation on the four questions that were asked in advance of the 2023 revaluation.

Public consultation

As the Scottish Government is not proposing to change the decapitalisation rates or groupings for the 2026 revaluation, and has not previously consulted specifically on what the decapitalisation rates should be (the range within which these should fall being determined by common methodologies described in the literature), it has not consulted in advance of the 2026 revaluation on the four questions that were asked in advance of the 2023 revaluation.

Other stakeholders

No engagement has taken place with other stakeholders.