Summary
A charity operates out of three units in a shopping centre. Mr C complained on behalf of the charity that they were being charged for surface water drainage (SWD) on the units despite the roof operating as a car park. Mr C said that the owner of the car park pays for SWD and, therefore, Business Stream were charging twice for the same services.
Business Stream told us that all three units have their own rateable value, as detailed on the Scottish Assessors Association website (which contains information about the current rateable values for properties in Scotland). To be charged SWD there must be a rateable value associated with the property, as this how the bill is calculated. The shopping centre and the car park have no rateable value and so could not be charged SWD. Business Stream did tell us that the owner of the car park had been charged a small amount for SWD, but that this was a mistake and they would correct it. We found that Business Stream had followed their policy in applying SWD charges to the units and we did not uphold Mr C's complaint.
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View Decision Report 201402858 as a PDF (11.07 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018