Significant fall in expected yield from Teesworks business rates

£30M DOWNGRADE IN PROJECTED INCOME OVER FIVE YEARS

- By STUART ARNOLD

MULTI-MILLION pound forecasts for future business rates income from the Teesworks regeneration project have been downgraded.

The income from rateable ventures on the sprawling complex is split 50/50 between Redcar and Cleveland Council and the South Tees Development Corporation chaired by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen.

The council's external auditor Mazars said projections had been "significantly reduced" by approximately £30m over the period of its medium term financial plan, which extends over a period of five years.

Meanwhile, a council cabinet report said there had been a "reduction in [business rates] liability due to some reprofiling of growth on Teesworks".

The negative turn has been blamed on delays in the opening of some sites that will host proposed new developments, along with revised information from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

The VOA sets rateable values, which are used by local councils to work out the business rates bill for individual properties, regardless of their size.

While forecasts of course can go up and down, any reduction in business rates income will be a major blow for the cash-strapped council.

It has identified future growth at Teesworks as one of the pillars of its financial strategy a three-stage process that has been labelled "survive, strive and thrive".

While different forecast figures have been bandied about in recent years, council officers have cited "significant future revenues" flowing from the former Redcar steelworks, renamed Teesworks.