ABSTRACT
This chapter explains some key concepts at the heart of rating law namely, the hereditament, the list, rateable value, the domestic/non-domestic distinction, ownership and rateable occupation. Rating may be a tax on the occupation or ownership of hereditaments, but liability will not arise unless a hereditament is included in the lists maintained by the Valuation Office Agency. LGFA 1988 provides that the rateable value of a hereditament 'shall be taken to be an amount equal to the rent at which it is estimated the hereditament might reasonably be expected to let from year to year', subject to certain assumptions as to the state of repair of the hereditament and the bearing of expenses. In order to be rateable, occupation must be permanent or non-transient. The requirement of permanence, or non-transience, is firmly established as one of the four ingredients of rateable occupation.
