Ms Jackie Maguire:

The rating legislation is very clear; there must be a charge. There is a refund mechanism available where the building is vacant on the date the rate is made. A refund is available, but it varies across local authorities. It can be anything from 0% to 100%, and most cities would not give a 100% refund in order to ensure that owners of those properties have let them. The owner must prove that he or she has been trying to let his or her business but for some reason cannot do that. Usually, in the very large urban areas, a full refund would not be given because one is trying to encourage the owners to make use of the building by getting a business back into it and getting footfall back onto the high street.