Charities—mandatory rating relief, public benefit (Nuffield Health v Merton London Borough Council)

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of this case?
• What was the background?
• What did the court decide?
• Case details

Article summary

Local Government analysis: The Court of Appeal decided, when assessing (for the purposes of section 43(6) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (LGFA 1988)) whether a hereditament held by a charity was used ‘for charitable purposes only’, that the rating authority was not required to conduct its own assessment of whether the use of the particular hereditament in isolation was for the public benefit. Rather, the statutory test for mandatory charitable rating relief was concerned with the question whether the purposes and activities of the charity as a whole were for the public benefit (which is the relevant test as a matter of charity law, which is usually a matter for the Charity Commission). Written by Matthew Smith, barrister at Maitland Chambers.