Borders sporting estates challenge new rating valuations

 EXCLUSIVE by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

Major landowners with sporting estates in the Scottish Borders have lodged scores of appeals in a bid to overturn valuation notices issued by the region's assessor which could result in the sector having to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds in business rates.

Shooting rights and deer forests were in the valuation roll up to 31st March 1995. They were then excluded by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and were not entered at revaluation in 1995.

However, the Scottish Government's Land Reform Act 2016 removed the exemption and obliged the Assessor to re-enter shooting rights and deer forests in local valuation rolls from 1st April 2017.

The area over which shootings may be exercised is the unit of measurement, usually stated in hectares. A rate per hectare is applied to this dependent on the land type ranging from £2 per hectare for deer forests/hill/moor to £5 per hectare for woodland.

All of that means the owners will be liable to pay business rates at 49 pence in the £ based on the valuation placed on their land if that valuation is maintained.

More than 40 cases have been included on a citation list for the Valuation Appeals authority later this week with another 110 scheduled for early November.

Ironically, Forestry & Land, the Scottish Government agency formerly known as the Forestry Commission Scotland, have lodged the greatest number of appeals (39) covering their vast holdings across the Borders. The department has engaged leading estate agents Savills to represent them at hearings.

According to the Savills website: "Savills has been advising forestry clients and businesses that it is important that forest owners and related shooting tenants should appeal their assessments, as apart from anything else, uncontested valuations risk providing the assessors with more evidence. The assessors did not have the time nor the resources to do a thorough exercise before they had to issue the first tranche of Valuation Notices.

"It is hoped as the appeals process develops, many commercially managed forests, where deer control is a key element of management rather than simply sport, will be re-assessed to nominal and in some cases possibly a nil value.

"There is a clear conflict between the concept that sporting rights on lands and heritages (including woodlands) must now be placed on the Valuation Roll and the primary objective of growing timber within commercial forestry."

Buccleuch Estates, the largest private landowners in the region have submitted 17 separate valuation appeals while the Church Commissioners for England are objecting to valuations on four deer forests they own in Roxburghshire.

The shooting rights (SR) and deer forests (DF) owned by Forestry & Land with their valuations are:

SR Swinnie, Roxburghshire £775; DF Swinnie £950; SR Newcastleton £9,200; DF Newcastleton £10,000; SR Wauchope £11,800; DF Wauchope £20,200; SR Yair $3,700; DF Yair £3,900; SR Falside £2,650; DF Falside £2,900; DF Shankend £750; DF Tinnisburn £1,375; SR Tinnisburn £1,550.

DF Whisgills £600; DF Caberston £4,000; SR Caberston £3,800; DF Cademuir £700; DF Cardrona £3,550; SR Cardrona £3,300; DF Cloich £7,900; SR Cloich £4,850; DF Elibank £10,100; SR Elibank £9,800; SR Craik (Peeblesshire) £11,900; DF Craik £13,000; DF Gamescleuch £2,300; SR Gamescleuch £2,150.

DF Glentress £6,600; SR Glentress £6,400; DF Ladyurd £1,300; SR Thornylee £550; SR Upper Wauchope £4,850; SR Cleuch Head Nursery £90; SR Leadburn £40; SR Renton £70; SR Greenwood £100; SR Langburnshiels £3,050; DF Kirnielaw £4,200.

The Buccleuch Estates properties on the  Appeal Citation List for early November are:

SR Clarilawmuir Stalking £775; SR Leahaugh, Castleton £1,400; SR Demainholm, Newcastleton £1,100; SR Demainholm Stalking £1,100; SR Mangerton £4,000; SR Hermitage Shoot £1,050; SR Drinkstone Shooting £2,000; SR Linhope, Teviothead £5,500; SR Wester Wooden, Eckford £2,500.

SR North House Wood, Hawick £2,100; SR Clarilawmuir Shoot, Hawick £775; SR East Buccleuch, Hawick £7,400; SR Branxholm Estate Stalking £9,100; SR Grahamslaw Shoot, Kelso £1,425; SR Langholm Moor, Hawick £11,400; SR (part) Langholm Moor £8,900; SR Millside, Kirkurd £60.

A separate valuation of £8,900 on shooting rights at Langholm Moor (part) is being challenged by the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project.

Four appeals, all relating to deer forests have been sent in by the Church Commissioners for England c/o Gresham House Forestry. The locations and their valuations are West Buccleuch/Midgehope £8,700; Ramsaygrain East, Hawick £3,700; Rashiegrain, Hawick £3,700 and Dykeraw, Southdean £4,850.

A single appeal has been lodged by Lothian Estates following a deer forest valuation of £12,500.