Academies: Land & building valuation

The Government has delayed the timetable for issuing land and buildings valuations for new academy schools that opened between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017 until January 2018.

11 Sep 2017

The Government has delayed the timetable for issuing land and buildings valuations for new academy schools that opened between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017 until January 2018.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) previously announced they would be available in September 2017. This may cause issues and extra costs for many academy trusts (either new or with new schools joining) whose accounts need to be filed by 31 December 2017.

This means schools will have to pay for a third party to provide a valuation.

Some local authorities may have provided a valuation to the school on transfer to academy status and this may be accepted by your auditors for inclusion within the financial statements. However, many local authorities refuse to provide one.

Whilst being in a position to utilise the government’s property valuation is beneficial, where a school is transitioning into or joining an academy trust a property valuation should be considered as part of any transfer agreement. It is also recommended to discuss matters with your auditors as some require an independent valuation as a matter of routine.