Am I liable to pay business rates?
Question:
My tenant has an LPA receiver appointed over my
property. Am I liable to pay business rates?
Answer:
No, you are not liable to pay full rates when an LPA receiver is
appointed.
It is the party that is either occupying the property or in the
case of unoccupied properties, is entitled to possession, who must
pay the rates. An LPA receiver is given extensive powers to
run the tenant's business, but it would be the tenant that remained
liable to pay the rates. An LPA receiver is the borrower's
agent and the borrower and the LPA receiver are treated as one
entity and therefore any occupation/possession by the LPA receiver
is deemed to be the occupation or possession of the
borrower.
A landlord should monitor any situation carefully, since if the
tenant were to go into liquidation then the LPA receiver's
appointment would come to end. However, it would only be at
the point that the liquidator disclaimed the lease that the
landlord could become liable to pay business rates.
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