Helping you make a Check for shops
The VOA wants to help customers provide the right information when making a Check, and the following focuses on how to do this for shops that are zoned for valuation purposes.
Applies to England and Wales
When making a Check, you will need to confirm if the details the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) holds about your property are correct. These details should reflect the property as it is when you submit your Check.
You will also need to tell us about any missing or incorrect information which might affect your property’s rateable value.
When proposing any changes to the information we hold you will need to tell us the date of the change and provide supporting evidence – this can include plans, photos and any other relevant documents with your submission.
When making multiple changes as part of your Check, you can upload supporting information in a single document.
We might contact you to discuss information you’ve provided or changes you’ve proposed – for example if we need additional evidence.
If you provide false information in relation to a Challenge, which can include information you provided in the associated Check, you may be charged a penalty. This applies whether you are the owner, occupier or ratepayer.
If you need advice about what information to provide, you can contact us at ccaservice@voa.gov.uk.
Further information on Check and Challenge penalties is available.
Help with completing your Check
The following is intended to support you in making an accurate Check and provide the right information.
Your property may be valued as a zoned shop even if you don’t occupy it as a shop.
You can see if we have valued your property as a zoned shop by checking your valuation - Find a business rates valuation.
Shops are measured to Net Internal Area (NIA). Further information on how we measure properties for business rates is available.
We value most shops using a zoning approach. The ground floor retail space is split into zones starting with zone A at the front. Depending on the depth of your property you will usually have up to four zoned areas (zones A, B, C and ‘remainder’).
We have a video showing how we use retail zoning for business rates.
Zones A, B, and C are usually a maximum of 6.1 metres deep. Any remaining ground floor retail space will be included within the ‘remainder’ zone.
Any additional separate ground floor accommodation beyond the first structural wall, for example, storage, office space and kitchen areas, are not zoned but are shown and valued separately.
Any other accommodation on the floors above or below used in connection with the shop, for example as retail, storage, staff kitchen or office will also be shown and valued separately.
Measuring depth
For zoning purposes, the overall depth of your property is the distance from the ‘building line’ to the first structural wall. Typically, the building line will be from the display window but some properties have a set-back frontage meaning areas outside the building might need to be included.
If your door is set back from the shop front, you will still need to measure from the building line and include the recessed area when measuring your zones.
Internal structural walls
All of the ground floor accommodation from the building line to the first internal structural wall will be zoned, regardless of how you use it. The only exception to this is toilets provided exclusively for customer use which are shown and valued separately. More information on how to tell us about toilets in your property is provided below.
Non-structural refers to walls that, if removed, wouldn’t require any structural support to be put in place.
When measuring the internal width of your property, you should ignore shop fittings or other removable internal linings.
Floor Levels
When confirming floor levels, please treat the floor at street-level as the ground floor.
Air conditioning
If your property has air conditioning, you will need to tell us if this covers the whole or only part of the property. If only part of the property has air-conditioning, you will need to tell us which areas are covered in your supporting information.
You do not need to tell us if you have a floor standing portable air conditioning unit.
Fire protection systems
If your property has sprinklers, you will need to tell us if they cover the whole or only part of the property. If only part of the property is covered, you will need to tell us these areas in your supporting information.
You do not need to tell us if you have stand-alone fire extinguishers.
CCTV
If your property has a CCTV security system, you will need to tell us the number of cameras. You will also need to tell us whether they are black and white or colour and the date of installation. You should upload this in your supporting information.
Toilets
We need to know if your property has toilets, their floor area, and whether these are for the exclusive use of customers or staff, or shared. You will need to upload supporting information which may include plans, photos or both. If you are telling us about customer toilets, our online service refers to these as ‘public toilets’.
Outdoor areas
When telling us about an outdoor display, seating area or both, you can provide details in the ‘Add floor areas’ section of your submission.
You will need to confirm any information we hold about car parking is accurate or provide details of any parking which isn’t currently included in your valuation. You can do this in the ‘add parking’ section of your submission. If the parking spaces are not marked out, you should estimate the number of spaces. You will need to upload supporting information which may include plans, photos or both.
This picture illustrates how zoning works.
A diagram showing zoning and unzoned areas of a mock shop.
In this example, the depth is measured from the building line to the structural wall, ignoring the non-structural partition but including the recessed shop front. This means the manager’s office towards the back of the shop will be partly included in zone C and partly included in the remainder.
The width has been measured at the rear where there are no internal linings or shop fittings. The columns and staircase need to be measured and their area deducted from the zoned area they fall into.
The customer toilets need to be measured, their area deducted from the zone they fall into and added as a separate item.
The stock and kitchen areas are excluded from the zoning as they fall beyond the structural wall. They need to be shown as separate items.