Debate contribution: Reval2026: Impact on Hospitality Sector

Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on 26 January 2026.

MLA

Mr John O'Dowd

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

26 January 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Questions for Urgent Oral Answer

Heading

Reval2026: Impact on Hospitality Sector

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5341151

Read the official Assembly record

Text

At this stage, I am not in a position to respond to the Member on whether the statistics that he quotes are correct or incorrect. When a premises does not respond to the valuation request with the information that is asked for, that leaves the valuers in the position of having to make an estimate. That estimate is based on the size of the property; what services it provides, such as food or alcohol; and whether it has bedrooms. Corresponding valuations in the area are also considered. It is always best for a premises to produce the information that is requested to allow for a fair valuation to take place. For pubs and clubs, that is done on the basis of receipts and so on. Some information can be got from Companies House and other places. There is a proposal coming forward in England and Scotland about how exactly pubs and clubs are to be evaluated on the basis of turnover. In the Chamber, I have already committed to reflecting on the outcome of that to see whether we can learn lessons. There is therefore always potential for a process to evolve. The process used to date has proven to be fair, however. That may sound harsh to a business that has had a significant increase in its valuation, but it may be accompanied by a business with a valuation that has gone down or remained the same. It has to be fair across the board. I assure everyone who is listening that LPS is ready to engage. That is the best way forward.

The retail sector in particular, perhaps unsurprisingly, given the changing nature of our shopping trends, has seen a decrease, probably everywhere apart from Belfast. For office accommodation, valuations have remained static — they have gone down. The valuations of warehouses and other areas of manufacturing have stayed about the same.

No, but I am suggesting that you do not know what you are talking about. I suspect that I am not the first person to say that to you. The issue is this —

If you had been listening to me —

I did not ask you to laugh.

I did not ask you to laugh. I gave you my opinion. The reality of the situation is this: when you speak to the pub owners and hotel owners in your area, you will have the information that I have given you that will assist them on the journey through this. You can meet them and make political points, if you wish, or you can say, "During Question Time, I learned this: if you're not satisfied with your valuation, you should contact LPS immediately. If you don't contact it before 1 April, you will have to make an appeal through the district valuer. If you don't agree with the outcome from the district valuer, you will have to go to the commissioner. If you don't agree with the commissioner's outcome, you will have to use the right of appeal through the tribunal". There are a number of processes. Grabbing headlines will not help any business in your constituency, but the information that I have given you just might.

For confidentiality reasons, I am not going to start trawling through the books to see why certain businesses' valuations have gone up by so much, but, if quotes such as that come back to you, I suggest that there will be a number of elements to them. One is that an extension of the building, with an increase in its physical size, would lead to a valuation increase. It may be turnover. The services that the business delivers may be popular with the public, so its premises may see an increase in footfall. The vicinity of the premises may have seen significant investment and therefore become a more attractive place to be. The only people who can tell us the story properly will be from the individual business. That story is best told to LPS.

One of the biggest challenges facing businesses is the difference in the VAT. I have met trade representative bodies, along with the Economy Minister, and we have undertaken to do some work in trying to ensure that the VAT levels are closer than they will be as a result of a reduction in the South. I will continue to work with the representative bodies to pursue that.

The previous two revals were published in January. I will not get into the detail of the individual cases that the Member referred to. The broader aspect of the reval has shown that, for rentable value, properties and businesses across the North have increased in value by something in the region of £230 million since the previous reval. That is actually a wee insight into the economy and how the economy is doing. From those figures, the economy is doing OK.

In any society, you have to have to —. Well, perhaps in the Member's Trumpian world, you would not have to pay tax. You would just let people go about their business and make huge profits.

I do not know whether you are for Reform UK this week or Trump. I do not know what you are. Here is the reality, Mr Gaston: if you want public services for the people of North Antrim, taxes have to be paid. I believe that if taxes have to be paid, they should be paid in a fair and equitable manner. I believe that the reval is a fair and equitable way of doing that, with three to four opportunities for an appeals process.

I do not know whether you have listened thus far —

— but I hope that he is better equipped now to go back to his constituents and say —

— "Folks, I was in the Assembly today and I learnt something. This is what we need to do, and I will support you in doing it. We need to contact the LPS and present evidence to support our case, and we will continue to move through that as well."

I have met numerous business organisations during my tenure as Finance Minister, and I will continue to meet business organisations.

There are limited powers available to the Executive around fiscal responsibilities, and the Member will be aware that I am seeking more tax-varying powers. We currently spend about a quarter of a billion pounds a year on subsidies for small and medium-sized businesses, and for businesses in general. I think that that is quite a significant investment, in fairness, into the business sector. I have set aside funding in the draft Budget to further increase business support and to broaden the scope of how businesses will qualify for that support. As I said to Mr Delargy, I also want to see a rate relief for a period for businesses that physically expand their premises and move forward. As I said, one of the reasons why some businesses — each case will tell its own story — have seen such a significant increase in their rateable value is that they have expanded. They have expanded because they are bringing in business and have the support of the local community and others who come in, because they present an attractive package. I wish them continued success for the future. I will play my part to support businesses as best I can. We have to have a fair and equitable rating system, and I believe that the process involved is fair and equitable.

If there are lessons to be learned about communication, we will certainly learn them. The revaluation had been mooted for a considerable time. Indeed, as I said in my original response, businesses have argued for more regular business revaluations, and we will attempt to deliver that. If there are lessons to be learned, we will do that. If any value has come out of this afternoon, I hope that it is that colleagues in the Chamber are now more informed about how the process works and, more importantly, how they can support businesses in their area to navigate their way through the next number of weeks.

I do not have the figure in front of me, but I am sure that I will be able to supply that to the Member.

1,386 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:31 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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