Hi all,

I've been trawling the Internet to find an answer.
Do I have to pay rates on a storage yard?
I'm looking at buying a yard on an industrial estate, and I am trying to work out roughly what the monthly expenses would be.

Cheers Frank.

First link on..

https://www.google.co.uk/?q=storage+yard+business+rates


Gives..

http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/forum/topics/does-a-yard-attract-business

HTH?

[Edited on 24/5/14 by stevebubs]

I've already read that, it doesn't really seem to answer my question.
I'm not going to rent the yard, so it's not being run as a business yard/estate, or as a storage business, by an owner that I'm renting from.
It's just going to be used by me, the owner of the yard, to store my own stuff, both business and personal.

Not an expert and it is not a straight forward answer.

First does the yard form part of a larger site/property or does it have it's own freehold/ lease hold and land registry record.
If yes to above, what is its current planning permission use class ie is it B8 or something else?

Given that it is on an industrial estate I suspect that it will already have a business use classification either in its own right or as part of larger property and will have a business rate valuation. If it is B8 and you store anything that is business related on the site (you don't have to be trading from the site) then you would not be able to get a change of use.

If it is currently part of a bigger site, when it is bought and separated out you will have to submit a planning application to define its planning use class.

It sounds like land/property that is in a designated industrial/business area on which you intend to store business related materiel therefore should be classed B8.

The devil is in the detail but the short answer is probably yes you will end up paying business rates.

Finally, if you do manage to get it classed as something other than B8 given its location you could significantly reduce its value when you come to sell.

[Edited on 25/5/14 by Brook_lands]

They'll be taxing fresh air next.

I'm actively looking for a workshop, purely for my own private use, but everything I look at (to buy, not rent) has business rates liability attached to it, despite the fact I won't be running a business from there. It's rapidly killing the idea.

Wheels,
check with your local council. As long as its the only workshop / garage you rent you may well qualify for small business rates relief which, in our area anyway, 100% :-)