Fridays Of Cranbrook Ltd, Chequer Tree Farm, TN17 3PN

What was argued and what the tribunal found

Fridays Ltd sought a reduction in rateable value for Chequer Tree Farm from £392,500 to £102,000, claiming that three egg packing buildings should be exempt as agricultural buildings under paragraph 3(a) of Schedule 5 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988. The appellant argued the buildings formed a single agricultural unit with the farm's agricultural land and barley/feed milling operations. The tribunal dismissed the appeal, finding that the egg packing buildings did not form a single agricultural unit with the agricultural land at Chequer Tree Farm, as no eggs were produced at the farm and the relevant buildings could be located anywhere—their placement was simply a business arrangement. The tribunal upheld the Valuation Officer's reduction to £352,500 as reasonable.

Summary generated from the decision text and checked against it. The appellant was Fridays Ltd, represented.

Grounds argued

• Relief or exemption

Evidence

Expert report

Cases cited

W&JB Eastwood Ltd v Herrod (VO) [1971] AC 160; Symes v Harvey (VO) [1973] RA 141; Farmer (VO) v Buxted Poultry Ltd [1993] AC 369; Senova v Sykes (Valuation Officer) [2019] UKUT 275 (LC); The Church of Scientology Religious Education College Inc v Andrew Ricketts (VO) [2023] UKUT 00001 (LC); Merton v Nuffield Health [2023] UKSC 18; Farmers' Machinery Syndicate (11th Hampshire) v Shaw (VO) [1961] 1 WLR 393 CA; Tunnel Tech Ltd v Reeves (VO) [2015] PTSR 1940; Waveney Mushrooms Ltd v Moore (VO) [2023] VTE (CHG100582485)

Hearing

22 June 2023

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