PHOENIX COURT, 531, STAINES ROAD, TW4 5DP
Offices and premises Decided 20 August 2025 CHG101140251 Ryan Property Tax Services UK Limited/Altus Group - Oakland - Manchester
Figures are as stated in the decision; a dash means the document does not state that figure.
What was argued and what the tribunal found
The appellant sought exemption from business rates under Schedule 5, paragraph 11 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 as a place of religious worship (mosque). The tribunal applied the Invitation Test from Church of Scientology v Ricketts and found that the property failed the test for public religious worship because: there was no external signage indicating religious use (only "Community Centre"), no visible notices of prayer times or services, calls to prayer were internal only, and a passer-by would not identify it as a place of worship. Additionally, the property was not registered as a place of worship until 14 July 2023, after the material date of 1 April 2023 for the 2023 list.
Summary generated from the decision text and checked against it. The appellant was Islamic Integration Community Centre, represented.
Grounds argued
- Relief or exemption
- Evidence
- Expert report
- Cases cited
- Church of Scientology Religious Education College v Ricketts (VO) [2023] UKUT 1 (LC); Broxtowe v Birch [1983] 1 WLR 314
- Hearing
- 25 July 2025
Similar decisions
- Sky, Grant Way, TW7 5QD — Allowed in part, 27 Mar 2026
- R/O 497, LONDON ROAD, TW7 4DA — Dismissed, 23 Nov 2022
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.