The Non-Domestic Rating (Rural Areas and Rateable Value Limits) (Scotland) Order 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Schedule 2 to the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 makes provision for mandatory relief from non-domestic rates for certain general stores and post offices, and discretionary relief for property used for purposes beneficial to the local community, in settlements of less than 3,000 people in areas of Scotland designated as rural areas by the Secretary of State.

Article 2 of this Order designates for the purposes of these provisions the local authority areas specified in column 1 of the Schedule to the Order, under exclusion of the localities specified in columns 2 and 3 of that Schedule. The boundaries of the localities specified in column 2 are those used for the purposes of the publication “1991 Census -Key Statistics for Localities in Scotland”, copies of which may be purchased from Stationery Office Bookshops. The boundaries of the localities specified in column 3 will be as notified by the Secretary of State to the local authorities in question no later than 19th December 1997.

Article 3 prescribes maxima of rateable value, above which property will not be eligible for the relief. £5,000 is prescribed in relation to mandatory relief, and £10,000 in relation to discretionary relief.