The triennial rating revaluations of properties in the Queenstown Lakes District has been deferred a year.

The rating revaluation is completed by Quotable Value (QV) on behalf of Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) and provides an updated value for the property which is used by the council in setting rates for the next three years. 

Property owners in the district usually receive a notice of rating valuation every three years. It was last done in 2017 and would have been undertaken in 2020.

QLDC finance, legal and regulatory general manager Stewart Burns said the unique circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on the district and national property markets meant a credible revaluation was unlikely within the regular timeframe.

“The council does not believe that QV is likely or reasonably able to complete a credible revaluation based on an effective date of 1 October 2020.” 

As a result, the QLDC discussed the option of deferring the proposed 2020 valuations with QV and the valuer general and approval to defer the general revaluation until 2021 was granted.  

The new valuations are most likely to take place in late October or early November this year. 

“QV is confident that it will be able to assess values for all property types under this revised timeframe,” Stuart said.

A rating valuation is the estimated property price at the effective date of valuation. The new effective date will be 1 September 2021. Existing QV valuations can be viewed online here.

The rating valuation is not a market value for a property; rather it is used by council as one of the means for allocating rates for the next three years. 

An increase in a property’s capital value does not automatically lead to an increase in rates payable; rates are set by an average across all properties in the local area, rather than by the value of an individual property.

If a property’s valuation increase is higher than the average for the district, then the capital value portion of rates on that property will be proportionally higher in the next rating year. Similarly, the reverse is true, if the property’s valuation is lower than the average then the rates could be proportionately lower.

Capital value represents the combined value of the land and the improvements to the land.

The capital value portion of rates equates to approximately 50 per cent of the annual rates assessment, while the remaining portion relates to fixed charges set according to a number of factors, including location, services (such as water and sewerage) and the primary use of the property (such as residential or accommodation). 

With the valuation task deferred now until later this year, the general revaluation will not affect rates until July 1, 2022.