Practice Notes
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS COMMITTEE
Practice Note 5
REVALUATION 2005
VALUATION OF LOCAL AUTHORITY AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Subjects included
Local authority primary and secondary schools.
Local authority nursery and special schools.
Nursery and community education accommodation attached to local authority schools.
Private schools (excluding residential blocks and ancillaries).
1.2 Subjects excluded
Further education colleges and universities.
Parts of local authority schools occupied as clinics, libraries, etc (may be appropriate for separate entry).
2.0 BASIS OF VALUATION
2.1 Subjects covered by this report will be valued on the Contractor's basis.
3.0 COSTS
3.1 Building costs have been adjusted to tone date and analysed to a £2m contract size.
3.2 Reference should be made to Basic Principles Committee Practice Note 2 - Contractor's Basis Valuations and to Public Buildings Practice Note 4 - External Works Costs, Allowances and Land Values for methodology and adjustments at the valuation stage
3.3 Land value will be added at the appropriate rate based on local evidence.
4.0 RATES TO BE ADOPTED
4.1 The recommended rates applied to GEA are for buildings only. Adjustments should be made for contract size and professional fees where appropriate.
4.2 The basic rates will apply to all schools - primary and secondary.
4.3
|
Rate/m² |
|
|
Main Buildings |
£750 |
|
Best Quality Prefabricated Buildings |
£450 |
|
Temporary Average Hutting |
£350 |
|
Sports Barns - (where not part of main school building) |
£650 |
|
Swimming Pool |
£1000 |
4.4 Any other exceptional buildings may be valued in accordance with appropriate rates derived from other schemes of valuation. In some cases where a particular building of unusual construction has been built in the last ten years, it may be of assistance to update actual cost (if available) to tone date to arrive at a replacement cost.
5.0 ALLOWANCES
5.1 In the case of multi-storey buildings, the following general allowances should be made to the whole of the individual building. Reduction factors for subsidiary floors will not apply.
-
3 storeys 5%
-
4 storeys 10%
Each principal building should be considered separately and the lift provision ignored.
5.2 Age, condition and obsolescence allowances should be applied in accordance with the table in Basic Principles Committee Practice Note 2
5.2.1 The allowance table recommends maximum allowances to be used to reflect age related physical obsolescence.
5.2.2 In the case of modernised or refurbished buildings, the use of a notional age between the date of refurbishment and the date of original construction may provide flexibility in deriving an appropriate age and obsolescence allowance.
5.2.3 System-built structures of inferior frame and panel construction with flat roofs and very little or no brickwork to walls may be given an additional allowance of up to 10% for pre-1975 structures and 71/2% for those built between 1975 and 1985.
5.2.4 Consideration should be given to the appropriateness of any allowance to reflect the site being 'encumbered' by obsolete buildings, structures, plant and machinery or some other factor. The quantum of any such allowance may be influenced by adjustments made between Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the particular valuation but in all cases, this is a matter of valuer judgement.
5.5.5 Redundancy allowances at schools will generally fall into two categories-
-
Redundant Buildings - Where, due to fundamental changes in educational delivery or in safety considerations, the buildings in question have no current or foreseeable use or where the use is severely limited.
-
Overcapacity - Where pupil numbers have fallen or have not reached optimum levels but all buildings are still in use (see para 9.0).
Examples of category (a) which should be excluded from valuation include-
Wings, attics, basements, playground toilets, etc, which, because of current health and safety standards, have no current use.
Examples of category (a) which may be retained in valuation include-
Buildings which are sound and usable but are surplus to the requirements of the school, either because of changes in education methods or demographic changes in the community and are not used for their intended purpose, e.g. old classroom wings used for casual storage. In such cases, a reduction factor of up to 25% may be applied to reflect the extent of use/usefulness. Classrooms used as general purpose rooms, resource centres, etc. do not fall within this category.
6.0 PLAYGROUNDS AND BOUNDARIES
6.1 Included in the valuation of external works.
7.0 PLAYING FIELDS, ETC
7.1 Refer to Public Buildings Committee Practice Note 4 .
NB Separate playing fields may be excluded from the valuation roll as local authority parks under Section 19 Local Government (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1963.
7.2 Tennis courts, and other special items (such as athletics tracks, all-weather pitches, etc) should be valued in accordance with Public Buildings Committee Practice Note 4
8.0 OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES
8.1 Car parking is deemed to be included in the addition for external works.
8.2 Garages, boat stores and other buildings should be valued on the rates quoted under para. 4.3 above for temporary average hutting.
8.3 Clubrooms, shooting ranges, etc should be valued in accordance with the relevant practice notes.
8.4 Chapels/churches should be valued in accordance with the relevant practice notes.
9.0 OVERCAPACITY ALLOWANCE
9.1 It is recommended that allowance be made for overcapacity. The basic approach is the same as at previous revaluations.
9.2 The valuation will reflect overcapacity as likely to persist from the tone date. The Education Authority should be requested to provide details of the number of pupils on the school roll for each of the years 2000/01; 2001/02; 2002/03. It is understood that Education Authorities are required to provide detailed statistics relating to pupil numbers, school capacity, etc, each year. Numbers of nursery pupils (taken at full time equivalent) should be included and the extent of community use reflected in the final allowance.
9.3 Overcapacity allowance should be applied as an end allowance to the whole/final valuation. Where the school/sports buildings are available for community purposes, the extent of this use should be reflected in the final allowance which must be a matter of judgement in each case.
9.4 Where there is clearly no community use and sports halls, sports facilities are in excess of the school's requirements, the standard allowance may be applied to all school buildings.
9.5 Overcapacity allowance will not apply to temporary hutted accommodation.
9.6 A percentage allowance to a maximum of 50% may be applied, as follows-
9.6.1 Where a new school erected ahead of time has been affected by a curtailment of expected development with no prospect of any appreciable increase in pupil numbers within the quinquennium.
9.6.2 Where an existing school is in an area affected by rural or urban substantial redevelopment and/or depopulation and/or permanently changed educational policy.
9.6.3 Where, due to a fall in anticipated pupil intake, a school has an over-provision of classrooms which are used simply because they are there but would not be provided in a new school.
9.6.4 Allowances should be based on the following table-
|
Spare Capacity |
Allowances |
|
Nil to 25% |
Nil |
|
25% to 30% |
Nil to 5% |
|
30% to 35% |
5% to 10% |
|
35% to 40% |
10% to 15% |
|
40% to 45% |
15% to 20% |
|
45% to 50% |
20% to 25% |
|
50% to 55% |
25% to 30% |
|
55% to 60% |
30% to 35% |
|
60% to 65% |
35% to 40% |
|
65% to 70% |
40% to 45% |
|
70% to 75% and over |
45% to 50% |
9.7 The allowance should be reviewed following any alterations/additions to a school during the quinquennium
10.0 PRIVATE SCHOOLS
10.1 It is recommended that where the construction of a private school is similar to that of a modern LA secondary school, the rates set out at para 4.3 should be applied.
10.2 Where it is considered that the standard of construction is inferior, then the recommended rate may be reduced. Circumstances may, however, arise where the quality of build in a private school, e.g. prestigious music building, science block, etc. is clearly superior and a quality addition is warranted. This is considered to be a matter of judgement based on the particular circumstances.
10.3 All playing fields, whether unum quid or entered separately, fall to be valued as S19 Local Government (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1963 does not apply to private sector schools.
10.4 When considering overcapacity/redundancy in private schools, some weighting should be given to any substantial increase in 'day pupils' to offset under-occupancy of boarding accommodation and a restricted allowance applied.
10.5 School boarding/dormitory accommodation is not included in the valuation of the school - see The Council Tax (Dwellings and Part-Residential Subjects) (Scotland) Regulations 1992.
11.0 DECAPITALISATION RATE
11.1 The appropriate statutory rate applicable to educational establishments should be applied.
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