The Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004

New buildings

5.—(1) After Article 25A of the principal Order (inserted by Article 4(1)) there shall be inserted the following Article—

“New buildings

25B.— (1) Schedule 8B (which makes provision with respect to the determination of a day as the completion day in relation to a new building) shall have effect.

(2) Where—

(a) a completion notice is served under Schedule 8B; and

(b) the building to which the notice relates is not completed on or before the relevant day,

then for the purposes of this Order the building shall be deemed to be completed on that day.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) the relevant day in relation to a completion notice is—

(a) where an appeal against the notice is brought under paragraph 4 of Schedule 8B, the day determined under that Schedule as the completion day in relation to the building to which the notice relates; and

(b) where no appeal against the notice is brought under that paragraph, the day stated in the notice.

(4) Where—

(a) a day is determined under Schedule 8B as the completion day in relation to a new building, and

(b) the building is not occupied on that day,

it shall be deemed for the purposes of Article 25A to become unoccupied on that day.

(5) Where—

(a) a day is determined under Schedule 8B as the completion day in relation to a new building, and

(b) the building is one produced by the structural alteration of an existing building,

the hereditament which comprised the existing building shall be deemed for the purposes of Article 25A to have ceased to exist, and to have been omitted from the list, on that day.

(6) In this Article—

(a) “building” includes part of a building; and

(b) references to a new building include references to a building produced by the structural alteration of an existing building where the existing building is comprised in a hereditament which, by virtue of the alteration, becomes, or becomes part of, a different hereditament or different hereditaments.”.

(2) After Schedule 8A to the principal Order (inserted by Article 4(2)) there shall be inserted as Schedule 8B the Schedule set out in Schedule 2.

(3) In Part I of Schedule 12 to the principal Order (basis of valuation — general rule), after paragraph 3 there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“3A.— (1) In estimating the net annual value of a relevant hereditament during a deemed completion period, the actual state of the hereditament shall be taken to be a state of reasonable repair excluding any repairs which a reasonable landlord would consider uneconomic.

(2) In this paragraph—

“building” has the same meaning as in Article 25B;

“deemed completion period” means the period—

(a)

beginning with the day on which the building is deemed to be completed by virtue of paragraph (2) of that Article; and

(b)

ending on the day on which the building becomes capable of rateable occupation;

“relevant hereditament” means a hereditament which comprises a building which is deemed to be completed by virtue of that paragraph.”.