Rateable values rest on information about area, layout, use and occupation. When that record is out of date, the liability usually is too. Portrait measures the property as it stands, compares the result with what the VOA holds, and pursues a correction where the two do not match.
For qualifying instructions the LiDAR scan is arranged at no upfront survey charge under signed terms. Our fee applies only if a qualifying reduction, refund or agreed saving is achieved.
Legacy plans, historic survey assumptions, mezzanine alterations, subdivided floors, voids and plant rooms all shape what you should be paying. A rating review stands or falls on whether the measured building supports it. That is why every Portrait case starts with a scan rather than an opinion.
Between 2026 and 2029 the rating system moves to three-yearly revaluations, greater valuation transparency and a phased ratepayer information duty. Property data stops being a challenge-time exercise and becomes routine housekeeping.
Shorter cycles mean a site measured years ago may no longer reflect the building as fitted out, subdivided or used today.
The VOA is moving towards sharing more of the workings behind each valuation. Visible assumptions are checkable assumptions.
Ratepayers will progressively be required to keep the VOA informed of changes. Measured records make that duty manageable rather than burdensome.
The entry relies on plans that predate alterations, or on assumptions never tested against the building.
Space valued as one use when it is occupied as another, from storage treated as office to voids still rated as productive.
Additions and removals that changed the rateable footprint without the record ever catching up.
Partial vacancies, sublets and shared occupation that alter who should be paying, and for what.
Small business, charitable and other reliefs that were never claimed or were applied incorrectly.
Where the error is proven, correction can apply from the start of the rating list, not the date you noticed.
We review your bill, the VOA entry and available plans. If there is no realistic case, we say so and stop.
A LiDAR scan records the property as it stands. For qualifying cases the survey carries no upfront charge.
Measured facts are set against the rating entry. You see every discrepancy and approve the case before submission.
Portrait runs the VOA process on your behalf and reports at each stage until the entry, and the bill, are corrected.
A first assessment is free and commits you to nothing. We reply in writing with a clear view of whether a case is worth pursuing.
