No separate rating for stores’ ATM sites (Cardtronics Europe Ltd and other companies v Sykes and others)

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of the judgment?
• The presence of plant and machinery
• The concept of self-containment
• The party in rateable occupation
• What was the background?
• What did the court decide?

Article summary

Property analysis: In Cardtronics Europe Ltd and other companies v Sykes and others, the Court of Appeal decided that the rateable occupation of the sites of automated teller machines (ATMs) situated inside and outside retail outlets, such as supermarkets, was by the retailers rather than the ATM operators and therefore the sites should not be assessed as separate hereditaments for business rates. Matthew Forrest, partner at TLT LLP, examines the decision.