Business rates are a tax on most non-domestic property, such as shops, offices and warehouses, billed each year by the local council. GOV.UK's guidance says you'll probably have to pay them "if you use a building or part of a building for non-domestic purposes."
At Wigwam
For self storage, the question is who counts as occupying the building. The Rating Manual published on GOV.UK, written for the valuation officers who assess property for rates, answers it: "The self-storage provider is regarded as being in paramount control of the whole self-storage facility and, consequently, the whole of the building occupied by the provider should be treated as one hereditament." (A hereditament is a property assessed for rates as a single unit.)
Our agreement is built the same way. We "retain control, possession and management of the Facility and the Unit" (clause 2(d)), and the agreement "does not confer on You any right to exclusive possession of the Unit" (clause 25). So a unit inside one of our storage buildings isn't assessed as a separate property, and you don't receive a separate rates bill for it.
Why it matters
If you run a small business and you're weighing a storage unit against a small warehouse or lock-up of your own, rates are part of the difference: the occupier of a standalone commercial unit gets its own bill. Two limits to keep in mind:
- the rating manual is written about storage buildings, so if you're considering one of our outdoor container units for business use, check the position with your accountant;
- a unit is for storage only. Our terms rule out using it "as offices" or "as a home, business or mailing address" (clause 22(a)), so it isn't a place to trade from.
Related terms: Business storage · Licence to occupy · VAT invoice · Stock storage
Related questions: Do I pay business rates on a storage unit? · Can I use my storage unit as a business address?