Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on (a) how the Valuation Office of the Inland Revenue measured the annual rental value of properties between the years of 1973 and 1990, in order to determine the rateable value of water bills for homes without water meters, (b) for what reason the Valuation Office of the Inland Revenue has not carried out any revaluations of homes since 1990 and (c) for what reason private water companies are unable to access this information.

For domestic properties that were not metered, water charges were historically based on the property’s rateable value. The rateable values shown in the 1973 rating lists were based on an estimate of the annual rent at which a property might reasonably have been let as at 1 April 1973.

The 1973 rating lists remained in force until 31 March 1990. Following the abolition of domestic rates in England, there was no requirement to carry out further domestic rating revaluations for this or any other purpose.

The 1973 rating lists were closed some years ago and have since been disposed of in accordance with the relevant retention and disposal policy. The Valuation Office therefore no longer holds the underlying rating list information for water companies to access, and it is no longer possible to amend or challenge those historic rateable values.