Harrods to benefit in business rates rejig

Harrods and Selfridges are among the biggest winners in the Government’s shake up of business rates.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed this week that April’s revaluation would go ahead, altering bills in line with changes in the rental market.

It will see properties given new ‘rateable values’, based on how much they are worth, for the first time since 2015. And the luxury department stores will see sharp reductions in the bills they face. 

The Selfridges store on Oxford Street in central London will see its rateable value fall by almost half in April, leaving it with a business rates bill of £8.6m, a £7.6m saving. 

Harrods’ Knightsbridge store will also see its rateable value cut nearly in half, reducing its bill by £8m to £9.2m. 

Overall, department stores and other big shops such as Primark, Ikea and House of Fraser, will see the biggest reductions as demand for large city-centre retail space falls. 

This category’s average rateable value has fallen by more than a third, according to research by real estate firm Altus Group. 

But the largest category of properties, covering 423,690 standard High Street stores, have seen their values fall by just 8.4 per cent. 

Altus UK president Robert Hayton said: ‘These modest reductions on most retail properties are very hard to square with the collapse in demand for new leases in the period around the valuation date during the final stages and immediate aftermath of Covid restrictions.’