Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what arrangements his Department has put in place to ensure a consistent approach between the Valuation Office Agency and local authorities on the designation of dwellings in respect of which council tax is payable rather than non-domestic rates; and if he will make a statement.

The Valuation Office Agency has statutory responsibility for maintaining the local list of both domestic and non domestic properties. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 defines domestic properties which are liable for council tax, and the Local Government Finance Act 1988 sets out the definition of non-domestic properties liable for Business Rates. Changes to the lists – including the transfer of a property from one to the other - are a matter for the Valuation Office Agency to determine rather than the local authority.