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Non-Domestic Rating (Nursery Grounds) Bill 2017-19

The Non-Domestic Rating (Nursery Grounds) Bill 2017-19 was introduced to the House of Commons on 23 May 2018. Second Reading took place on 5 June 2018. The Bill will go to a Committee of the Whole House on a day to be determined. The Bill and Explanatory Notes can be found on the Parliamentary website.

The Bill’s purpose is to reverse the effect on valuation practice for non-domestic rating of the 2015 case Tunnel Tech v Reeves. In brief, this case established that, where a business operates a plant nursery or ‘nursery ground’, where agricultural operations take place entirely indoors, it cannot benefit from the general business rates exemption for agricultural land and buildings.

The Government made a policy commitment to legislate to establish that ‘nursery grounds’ should be entitled to an agricultural exemption, and to apply this exemption retrospectively back to the 2015-16 financial year.

The Bill extends to England and Wales. The effects of the case also extend to England and Wales, and thus the Bill will reverse its effect in both territories.