Fairfax House, Castlegate, York, York, YO1 9RN
Museum and premises; Art gallery and premises; historic property and premises Decided 6 November 2020 25055588 Lambert Smith Hampton
Figures are as stated in the decision; a dash means the document does not state that figure. This decision covers 6 properties; the figures shown are for the first listed.
What was argued and what the tribunal found
The appellants sought nominal valuations of £10 for five of the six properties, arguing the existing valuations were incorrect and excessive. The tribunal found that the receipts and expenditure method was appropriate for all properties and adopted this approach following the Upper Tribunal's precedents in Hughes (VO) v Exeter City Council and Hughes (VO) v York Museums and Gallery Trust. The tribunal rejected the respondent's alternative methods (percentage of gross receipts for some properties and storage-based valuation for Chard Museum) as inappropriate. The tribunal allowed the appeals, determining nominal or significantly reduced values for all six hereditaments.
Summary generated from the decision text and checked against it. The appellant was Tyne & Wear Museums Service, represented.
Grounds argued
- Valuation method · decisive
- Trading receipts (pubs, hotels)
- Evidence
- Trading accounts, Expert report
- Cases cited
- Hughes (VO) v York Museums and Gallery Trust; Hughes (VO) v Exeter City Council; Hoare & Anor v National Trust; Bluebell Railway Limited v Ball (VO); Gardiner & Theobald LLP v Jackson (VO)
- Hearing
- 6 November 2020
Similar decisions
- Blue Bell Inn, 53 Fossgate, YO1 9TF — Dismissed, 11 Mar 2026
- Yates Wine Lodge,, Church Lane, York, YO1 9QT, YO1 9QT — Allowed in part, 2 Sept 2025
- York Maze, Elvington Lane, YO19 5LT — Allowed in part, 31 Jan 2023
All decisions in City of York Council · Pubs, hotels and leisure nationally
Is your own rateable value in line?
A free check compares a property with the assessments around it and says plainly whether there is anything worth pursuing.
Check a propertyThe tribunal’s decision in full
Decision © Crown copyright, published by the Valuation Tribunal Service under the Open Government Licence v3.0 and reproduced unaltered. This site does not index the names of private individuals that appear in decisions. Information, not advice.