PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(28 August 2026)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of whether the receipts and expenditure method used to determine the rateable value of renewable energy generation assets, including hydroelectric schemes, supports the Government's clean power mission.

Asked by:
Michelle Scrogham (Labour)

At the Budget 2025, the Valuation Office announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.

The Valuation Office's statutory role is to determine a Rateable Value (a rental value) of every non-domestic property in England and Wales. In assessing the value, the Valuation Office will take into account all the inherent qualities of the property and the existing legislation at the valuation date. The Valuation Office adopts a range of professionally recognised valuation methods to do this, including Receipts & Expenditure and market rental evidence.

The Government makes use of a range of levers to deliver on our ambitious plan to decarbonise our electricity system and support energy infrastructure. This includes the Contracts for Difference scheme, which some hydroelectric schemes are eligible for, where the Government delivered the most successful renewables auction in history last year by contracting a record-breaking 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind. The Government is committed to working with the private sector to radically increase investment in the clean energy sector to accelerate deployment of onshore wind, solar power, and offshore wind.

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