The Northern Ireland Valuation Tribunal has dismissed a rates appeal brought by a Crossmaglen man who argued that a long-unoccupied cottage should be removed from the Valuation List on account of its poor condition. The tribunal, sitting in Belfast on 25 June 2026 under President James Leonard, ruled unanimously that the property at 11 Foxfield Road, Mobane, Crossmaglen remains correctly listed with a capital value of £50,000.

The appellant, Michael McCoy, had challenged a Valuation Certificate issued on 11 April 2024 by the Commissioner of Valuation for Northern Ireland, which maintained the capital value at £50,000 with no change. McCoy contended the property was uninhabitable and should not be subject to rates. Records show the property has been the subject of repeated appeals and exemption applications stretching back to at least 2016, with the Commissioner consistently holding the capital value at £50,000.

The property is a pre-1919 detached single-storey cottage with a gross external area of 102.5 square metres, situated approximately 1.9km south-southeast of Crossmaglen. Inspections by the Commissioner's valuer on 29 March 2024 and again on 17 January 2025 found the external structure largely intact, though some roof tiles were damaged, damp was visible on most external walls, and the roof was leaking into a bedroom and the bathroom. Internal photographs showed a collapsed bedroom ceiling. The tribunal noted that some roof repair work appeared to have been carried out to keep the property weathertight.

McCoy told the tribunal the property had been unoccupied since November 1994. His mother had previously lived there alone, and plans for a replacement dwelling - which had received planning permission - were abandoned after she died. He stated he had attempted to maintain the property in the hope that his eldest son would take it on, but his son died unexpectedly in May 2016. The tribunal recorded its sympathy for the family's circumstances.

On the central question of whether the property should remain in the Valuation List, the tribunal applied the test established in the English High Court case Wilson v Josephine Coll [2011] and interpreted for Northern Ireland in the earlier Valuation Tribunal decision Whitehead Properties Ltd v Commissioner of Valuation [NIVT 12/12]. That test draws a distinction between a property that is truly derelict and incapable of repair, and one that can be made fit for occupation through reasonable works. The tribunal found no evidence of structural cracking or bowing, noted that windows and doors were reasonably intact, and concluded the property had not reached the point of true dereliction.

The tribunal also explained that under Schedule 12 of the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977, it is legally required to assume that any property is in an average state of internal repair when assessing capital value, regardless of actual internal condition. The tribunal stated it had no discretion to depart from this statutory assumption, meaning the poor internal state visible in photographs could not be factored into the valuation. Capital values under the current domestic rating scheme are assessed as at 1 January 2005, the Antecedent Valuation Date.

On the capital value itself, the Commissioner's evidence presented four comparable pre-1919 single-storey cottages in the Crossmaglen Ward, with unadjusted capital values ranging from £65,000 to £110,000. The Commissioner's valuer applied a 40% reduction to a base figure of £85,000 to reflect the property's disrepair, arriving at £50,000. The tribunal found no significant error in this approach. Under Article 54(3) of the 1977 Order, a valuation shown in the Valuation List is presumed correct unless displaced by evidence, and the tribunal found McCoy had not provided sufficient grounds to displace that presumption. The appeal was dismissed.