Valuation Roll - general information
The Assessor is responsible for the valuation of most of the commercial properties within Lothian. A valuation of commercial properties is undertaken every five years and is referred to as the Revaluation. The Assessor must provide a Valuation Roll listing of these properties, which is available for public viewing.
The functions of the Assessor are different from most other Local Government Officers whose duties are to carry out the policies of Authorities, many of which are of a political nature. The Assessors require the balancing of ratepayers interests against others and the independence of the Assessor, as recognised in the formulation of the Joint Board, is necessary to ensure that decisions are made on factual considerations of value without political pressure.
The Valuation Roll remains in force until the next Revaluation. It is amended by the Assessors Office to reflect all changes to a property. This may mean the inclusion of new properties, the amendment of existing properties or the removal of demolished or derelict properties.
The Valuation Roll
The Valuation Roll is a public document which contains an entry for every non-domestic property in the Lothian area. Each entry in the Roll includes the names of proprietors and occupiers and the Rateable Value which has been set by the Assessor.
Rateable Values are established every five years at a General Revaluation which takes place at the same time throughout the United Kingdom. Revaluation results in the production of a new Valuation Roll which contains revised Rateable Values for all non-domestic properties in the area. Following a Revaluation, your Rateable Value generally remains unchanged until the next Revaluation, unless, alterations have taken place to your property.
New properties are added to the Roll as they become occupied and demolished buildings are deleted. The Assessor is required to notify proprietors and occupiers of any changes made to the Valuation Roll by issuing a Valuation Notice.
The Valuation Roll can be viewed online via the Scottish Assessors Portal website.