Nursery Saves Additional £8,600 Through Successful Challenge
Case study:
Pre School Nursery | Edgeley, Stockport
A well-regarded day nursery and previous client of RVA, for which we successfully reduced their business rates through a Check in the 2023 rating list.
KEY
FACTS
£8,067.75
TOTAL SAVINGS
Nursery
PROPERTY TYPE
June ’26
REVIEW COMPLETED
The Client
Our client is a well-regarded day nursery in Edgeley, Stockport, providing childcare for children aged between 6 months and 5 years. In December 2025, we published a case study highlighting how RVA successfully reduced the nursery’s business rates liability through the Check stage of the Check Challenge Appeal (CCA) process.
However, alongside the Check, our surveyor also submitted a Challenge to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Following a lengthy review, the VOA issued its decision.
The Issue
The initial Check identified that the nursery had been overvalued because the VOA had overstated its capacity, assessing the property based on 78 child spaces rather than 56. While the success of the Check significantly reduced the rateable value (RV), our surveyor identified a further issue during the inspection.
The nursery had also been placed under an incorrect valuation scheme, used by the VOA to assess business rates for comparable properties within a particular area. But in this case, the property had been placed on a scheme for properties in prime city centre and affluent locations, including Deansgate, Spinningfields and Didsbury.
The scheme was also intended for basic conversions or former Victorian school buildings, neither of which accurately reflected our client’s property.
The Solution
As Edgeley is neither a city centre or high-income location, and the property was not originally built for educational use, our surveyor challenged the valuation scheme, which at the time applied a rate of £500 per m² per child space.
A detailed letter of contention was submitted to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), setting out why the existing scheme was incorrect. This included evidence from comparable properties in the Edgeley area, supporting photographs, an explanation of why the current scheme was incorrect, and reasoning for the alternative scheme that more accurately reflected the property’s location and use.
The Outcome
The Challenge was successful, with the VOA agreeing to move the property onto the correct valuation scheme. As a result, the rate applied per child space was reduced from £500 per m² to £400 per m², delivering a further reduction in the nursery’s business rates liability.
The original Check, submitted under the 2023 rating list, reduced the property’s rateable value from £39,000 to £28,000. Following the successful Challenge and scheme amendment, the rateable value has now been reduced further to £22,250.
Because both the Check and Challenge were submitted during the 2023 rating list, RVA Surveyors has secured reductions to our client’s historic, current and future business rates liabilities.
