Welcome to our second edition which contains interesting sector news and announces some exciting new publications. Our merger with Warmingtons of Bedford early in 2015 extends our office network to 16 and work has also begun on our brand new head office in Ashby de la Zouch. We would like your feedback on the newsletter and what you would like to read about so if you have any comments please email marketing@fishergerman.co.uk

Almost everybody avoids tax, you would never be criticised for buying the booze for your daughter’s wedding in Calais, filling up your car before the duty rise or even rushing through a conveyance to beat a stamp duty rise.

One of the unforeseen consequences of the recession and public spending austerity has been the way in which minimising your tax bill is now viewed. Perfectly legal schemes to reduce tax are treated by the press and some politicians as anti- social behaviour, and anybody who engages in any sort of tax reduction activity is likely to be portrayed as some sort of pariah.

The coalition government has been surprised by the effectiveness of its anti- avoidance measures and the rhetoric of the election campaign makes political effort to increase the tax take more likely, for two reasons. Firstly, it is the rich who are perceived as the largest offenders, hardly surprising as they pay the most tax, and secondly, countries that do not collect their tax efficiently tend to end up in the most trouble, indeed in pre- crisis Greece, tax evasion was a national sport.

Tax policy is becoming as much about who gets hit as it is about how much tax is raised. Any economist will tell you that the most effective rate for taxing capital gains is about 18% and that a top rate of income tax of 40% will, in fact, yield more than a rate of 50%. However, despite the present pressure on public finances, neither of the main parties dare propose these kind of reductions for fear of being seen to be on the side of the wealthy.

So, whoever wins the election, we should be prepared for increased anti- avoidance measures and continued public hostility to tax mitigation. There is a danger that some of the reliefs that farming, forestry and rural business currently benefit from will get caught up in this and be portrayed as tax shelters. In the current political environment, perception is often more damaging than reality.

The solution for rural businesses lies in immortality, but failing that, long term planning, simplicity and flexibility are your best bets.

Click here to read more from Harry in our rural consultants column

Operating in the renewable energy market over the past 18 months could be described like riding a roller-coaster blindfolded – with ups, downs, twists and turns – many of which have been unforeseen or otherwise difficult to anticipate.

The forthcoming general election is somewhat an extension of that roller-coaster with continued uncertainty over which party will be in power after May 2015 and what their energy policies will entail, shrouding the future of some renewable energy technologies.

Nevertheless, our renewable energy team are well practised in riding the roller-coaster and continue to be one of the UK’s pre-eminent consultancies working with and advising clients on renewable energy projects. Support from an experienced team ensures the ups, downs, twists and turns appear all the more smooth.

This was recognised most recently when the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) asked Fisher German to deliver training to over 250 surveyors and professionals across the country at locations as far afield as Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Southampton.

This is not the first time Fisher German have been asked to share their knowledge on the subject having been approached by several major clearing banks to evolve their lending policies and get their managers familiarised with renewable energy schemes with over 370 managers trained for one bank alone. The seminars have produced a number of new work streams for the sector and also resulted in Fisher German being inaugurated onto HSBC’s panel for agricultural valuation work – an added bonus.

Contracts for Difference

Until the election, current Government policies remain the order of play and the results of the first Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction have just been announced. There have been 27 successful renewable energy projects receiving more than &315m in financial support. However, this pales into insignificance compared to last year’s budget of &3.1 billion under the Renewables Obligation (RO) budget for 2014/15.

Onshore wind was the main winner in this initial auction being allocated 15 out of the 27 contracts awarded whilst large scale solar parks (5MW+) with planning issues or grid connection delays preventing commissioning pre-1 April 2015 [when the more lucrative RO payments are set to end] were the principal losers in this auction.

There will be little visibility over the shape of future CfD rounds until after the general election and low carbon policies post-2020 remain unclear.

Despite the somewhat turbulent and uncertain nature of the renewable energy market our team are used to adapting to change and are currently working with clients on enterprising and potentially valuable schemes including ‘gas to grid’ Anaerobic Digestion plants, 250kW roof-mounted solar PV installations, and up to 5MW ground-mounted solar parks, all of which are less reliant on government financial support. Add in anticipated growth in the energy storage technologies and the future for renewable energy remains bright.

Click here to subscribe to our quarterly newsletter which gives you the latest updates on the renewable energy market and how your planned or existing project may be affected.

Or click here to meet one of the renewable energy team. 

With the general election on the horizon and increasing pressures within agriculture, there is a lot of activity in the rural sector. Our new publication Agri View aims to provide an insight into some of the key concerns for our clients.

David Merton, Head of the rural sector, provides an introduction to the content. The rural sector is the backbone of Fisher German and includes all the core services from which the firm has grown and developed and the wide range of work areas are detailed in the Meet the Team section.

Inside Agri View, consultant, Harry Cotterell provides an insightful view of the rural economy which makes for thought-provoking reading. Harry enlightens readers on the pace of change in the rural sector and states that business flexibility and innovation are the key to survival in the current climate.

Over the past 5 years farmland has risen in value by over 50% and by a staggering 175% over the past 10 years. Whilst returns remain low, investors and those new to farming continue to be enticed by rising land values and significant tax breaks. Evidence shows that the volume of farmland sold in the past three years has remained relatively static.

Going forward through 2015, a number of factors may cause variations to farmland supply and prices including new CAP reforms, uncertainty regarding the General Election and the future implications for agriculture, exchange rate and interest rate movements, taxation changes and weakened commodity prices.

Agri View provides an overview of the firm’s professional service offering. Did you know that the Rural Sector is one of the firm’s largest sectors? And that the team manage and consult on over 300 estates? 

Finally, there is the opportunity to sign up to Agri-Facts, a monthly circulation of important agribusiness information including information on commodity prices, dead weights for pigs, cattle and lambs, market commentary, key dates for Cross Compliance and other topical news.

Agri View can be read in full here

Please click here to subscribe to Agri-Facts

Fisher German carried out research to analyse the success of business rates appeals against the 2010 Ratings List carried out by its commercial team.The findings revealed an impressive &432,666 had been saved by the team led by commercial surveyors John Royle FRICS, of Fisher German’s St Helens office and Rob Haigh MRICS from its Retford office.

The savings were generated from appealing against incorrect measurements or agreeing an alteration to the rates per square metres shown on the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) website, and successful Small Business Rates Relief applications.

John said the subject of business rates was a hot topic for debate since the implementation of the 2015 Ratings List had been delayed until 1 April 2017: “From 31 March 2015, refunds from successful business rates appeals will be limited to two years rather than seven. This potentially restricts the benefit of a successful appeal by up to 70%.

Since the VOA do not inspect every property upon revaluation, any changes in internal physical factors of buildings are often not accounted for within the new Ratings List.

These changes may result in either an alteration to the measurement of a property, or the need to alter the rate per square metre applied to that building, but this will not be reflected in the new Ratings List.

This often leads to our clients paying too much for their business rates. It is important that appeals are lodged to correct any errors because, as the results show, this can often lead to considerable savings and rebates.”

Recent appeal success

An example of a recent successful appeal comes from Rainford Industrial Estate in St Helens.

Fisher German received instructions that their client was to submit an appeal of the rateable value of their factory which totalled circa 6,850 sq ft. Investigations by the commercial team showed that there were discrepancies on the floor areas and rate per square metre applied by the VOA.

An appeal was lodged against the 2005 and 2010 Ratings List entries and following negotiation, the rateable value of the 2005 list was reduced from &30,750 to &20,750, and the rateable value of the 2010 list reduced from &24,500 to &21,500.

John added: “When considering the savings made moving forward and the rebate received by our client, the total savings were in excess of &30,000.

“With the limitation being placed on back dating appeals, it is vital that businesses consider their business rates now.”

If you would like to know more contact

John Royle 01744 458841 email john.royle@fishergerman.co.uk

Rob Haigh 01777 719148 email robert.haigh@fishergerman.co.uk

For more information about all our commercial services click here

Some jobs can be hard work but perseverance has paid off in many cases for our planning team.

Ashby housing development

A resolution to grant planning consent for up to 275 dwellings on a site at Ashby de la Zouch has delighted our Client who described the consent as “life changing”. Active engagement with local residents, North West Leicestershire District Council and Leicestershire County Council enabled the planning team to secure a recommendation for approval from Officers and Councillors voting to approve the development of the 14.7 hectare site in December 2014. The planning and development team have acted throughout on behalf of the owners and promoters and are continuing negotiations to secure the completion of the Section 106 legal agreement and the site’s onward sale.

For more information click here

Appeal leads to barn conversion viability

In a landmark case, Fisher German has secured planning consent for the conversion of redundant farm buildings to residential use on a site near Cubley in Derbyshire. The three residential units, designed by the building consultancy team, had previously been approved in 2008 however the full planning permission consent lapsed. The planning team submitted a prior approval application for the conversion of the buildings following the introduction of new permitted development rights in April 2014 which was subsequently refused by the planning authority. An appeal was submitted, arguing that the development would enhance the appearance of the site; this was successful in overriding concerns regarding the site’s location in the open countryside. The appeal was allowed, and the client is now able to undertake the development without making a substantial financial contribution to affordable housing, which was a requirement of the previous lapsed consent.

For more information click here

Flood risk reduced

The securing of a planning consent is set to provide benefits for our client as well as the owners and occupiers of adjacent properties. The approval of the installation of surface water storage pipes within the Grade I listed Leasowses Park, a designated Conservation Area and a Site of Interest for Nature Conservation, also located in the Green Belt, was not straightforward! Extensive public consultation was carried out with local residents for the much-needed sewer system upgrade. The delivery of the new storage pipes will prevent nearby houses from flooding during heavy rainfall.

For more information click here

Meet our planning team here

The first edition of Source, successor to our very popular ‘Property Preview’ magazine, will be out shortly. As the Fisher German agency business has grown in recent years it is very rewarding to witness so many more people looking to us as the source of valuations, market intelligence and the broadest range of property advice. Thousands of buyers contact us every year to source their next home, land or investment and vendors look to us as the source of the best buyers for their cottage, their farmland, their country house or estate.

The residential property market is in reasonably buoyant mood and some very good sales are being achieved for most property types. However, slow supply of fresh homes to the market is a worry with too many buyers chasing too few properties in many areas and market sectors. This is not pushing values up as the market seems solidly stable at present from a price perspective but it is creating pockets of ‘stalemate’ in the market.

The forthcoming Election is causing some lethargy amongst a few but in general we seem set for a decent year of village and rural sales, regardless who ends up with their slippers in Number 10.

The 2015 publication has been given a new look to display an enticing showcase of some of the best properties we have to offer across the country.The magazine also offers a step-by-step guide to making the most of your own sale if you are thinking of going to the market this year.

If you would like us to post you a copy of Source please email here

Click here to search for our properties or here to meet the team.

In September 2014 Fisher German was successful in tendering to provide Land Agency Services to National Grid for the North West Coast Connection Project. This will cover over the life of the Project contact and non-contact land referencing, access for surveys, production of mapping data and compilation and management of a book of reference for submission as part of a Development Consent Order.

The aim of the project is to provide a sustainable electricity connection to the proposed Nuclear Power station Moorside, Cumbria, due to current insufficient capacity of the existing infrastructure in the area. To do this National Grid are proposing to build two new 400kV connections spanning the west Cumbrian coast with one heading north from Moorside to Carlisle substation, and one heading south from Moorside to Heysham Sub Station.

Our utilities and infrastructure team are currently helping National Grid during the project consultation stage by carrying out the land referencing task which involves identifying all the landownership interests within the project's emerging preference route corridor, heading south from Moorside to Morecambe Bay.

To do this Fisher German has carried out a desktop study, identifying land registry titles, environmental designations and special category land. Contact referencing has also been carried out which involved a mass letter drop to all landowners within the corridor to request one to one meetings.

Meeting the landowners has given Fisher German the chance to confirm landownership details, identify third party rights and request survey access for environmental and engineering surveys required by the project.

“It has been fascinating to be involved on a nationally significant project of such a large scale. The best part of the job has been meeting all the landowners in the Cumbrian countryside and gaining first hand knowledge of the land and the local area” said utilities and infrastructure team member Patrick Irvine.

So far Fisher German have identified a total of circa 3000 registered titles in the route corridors and a team of surveyors have been meeting landowners since November 2014 with the aim to have identified all the landowners for the Spring 2015 survey season. A team of nine surveyors from the Ashby, Chester and Knutsford offices have been involved, based in Ulverston, Cumbria, with administration and mapping support supplied from the Ashby office.

Fisher German involvement with the project will continue until completion in 2024.


For further details on Fisher German's involvement, contact Project Manager Mark Gilkes on 01530 410822 email mark.gilkes@fishergerman.co.uk

For further information on the project please visit www.northwestcoastconnections.com

This year, Fisher German is sponsoring the first Rural Business Awards for:

Best Renewable Energy project

Outstanding Farm Diversification project

Background

There are 10 categories in these national rural awards which are in recognition of successful businesses operating across the rural sector. If you would like to enter a project in the award, please contact either David Merton for the Outstanding Farm Diversification project award or Mark Newton for the Best Renewable Entry project award.

Entries must be received before 24 April 2014 - click here for more details.

The prize giving dinner takes place on 11 June 2015 and will be held in Tugby, Leicestershire.

Click below to view our latest job opportunities

Join us on Stand 815 at Cereals 10-11 June 2015