All Material Added: November 2008
This is a Group Class. Co-ordination responsibilities are set out in Rating Manual Volume 2 : Section 1, and the 2010 Co-ordination Practice Note
For advertising displays and hoardings in general, the available Special Category Codes are: 003 (Advertising Right or Station), and 146 (Land Used for Advertising).
For 4-sheet and 6-Sheet bus shelter panels and 6-sheet panels at supermarkets, Special Category Code 003 (Advertising Right or Station) should be used.
As a Group Class, the appropriate suffix letter is G.
In general, the approach detailed in Rating Manual Volume 5:20 should be adopted when making valuations in respect of advertising rights or stations, and land used for advertising.
This Practice Note concentrates on small format 4-sheet and 6-sheeet displays, in particular bus shelter, petrol filling station and supermarket advertising displays, which are typically represented by 6-sheet panels.
Discussions have taken place with Clear Channel UK Ltd in respect of the levels of value to be applied for the Revaluation 2010 for 6-sheet panels on bus shelters.
Available evidence of rents on small display advertising has also been examined. Similarly, bus shelter and small format advertising has been considered in the context of more general advertising industry indicators and trends.
Additionally, this note provides advice for Revaluation 2010 on the approach to be taken in respect of 6-sheet advertisements at superstores, petrol filling stations, motorway service areas, sponsored roundabouts and lampposts displays.
The figures in this note must not be used for any display sizes larger than the modern 6-sheet, being 1.8m x 1.2m.
According to the Outdoor Advertising Association, outdoor and transport advertising in April 2008 enjoyed around a 5.8% share of the total advertising spend in the UK; this share has steadily increased from around 4.3% in 1998, reaching 5.3% in 2003. This increase in market share in 2008, together with an increase in total UK advertising spend of around 7%, resulted in a 30%-32% increase in spend on outdoor and transport advertising over the five year period. When transport (advertisements on public transport networks and vehicles) is removed from the figures, the increase in outdoor spend alone is around 39%.
The use of outdoor advertising displays has changed and evolved over this period, the overall number of displays increasing by some 15% between 2003 and 2008.
Over the period April 2003 to April 2008:
Additionally, and strictly speaking outside the scope of this practice Note:
The future beyond April 2008:
The second quarter of 2008 has shown a slight levelling in total spend on advertising, which may mark the first tangible effect of the so-called “credit crunch” on the advertising industry as a whole. However, “Outdoor” appears to be holding its own as a share of total spend.
As “Outdoor Advertisers” tend to rent sites on short-term licences and informal agreements, which are much more flexible than an upwards only FRI lease, options to terminate or renegotiate rental agreements can in theory be exercised relatively quickly as a response to difficult conditions. Whether, or the extent to which, 2008’s economic events affect the “outdoor advertising landscape” remains to be seen over coming years.
Guidance on the categorisation of any particular town and city and the relative location classifications within that town and city is given below. The basis of classification remains as adopted for earlier Rating Lists; the general expectation is therefore that categorisation and classification adopted for R2005 will apply for R2010.
The scheme of valuation identifies four urban categories:
In the majority of cases it should be straightforward to decide upon the most appropriate category and classification to adopt for any particular bus shelter location.
However, regard may be had to additional factors such as population size, any local restrictions on advertising, whether “Heritage” Centres and whether the shelter is in a Historic City or Town. These factors may have a bearing on the categorisation/classification decision to be made.
Central London
The relative categorisations within Central London are now well established and these remain unchanged for 2010 purposes.
Within Central London, the “key higher value” locations are excluded from the scope of this practice note and values are not provided. This repeats the approach taken in previous revaluations. It is therefore envisaged that the Groups responsible for “key higher value” locations in Central London will establish and apply appropriate levels of value depending on the relative merits of the locations concerned.
Cities, Outer London Boroughs, Major Towns and Other Towns
For 2010, determining the correct categorisation of any city or town is again most important. It is however envisaged that the work completed by Groups during maintenance of the 2005 lists will have established the relative strengths and the therefore the appropriate categorisation of Cities, Boroughs and Towns from an advertising perspective.
It is already established that some “Cities” could be more appropriately categorised as “Major Towns” and, conversely, some “Major Towns could be categorised as “Cities”.
Within each of the four “urban Categories” above, the scheme of valuation identifies three locations:
It is important to build on the valuable work already done in determining the relative strengths of advertising position and not revisit this area unnecessarily.
Town Centre
This should be taken as meaning the main central shopping and commercial centre of the particular conurbation concerned.
Main Roads
The majority of bus shelter sites falling into this classification are likely to be situated on main roads. Main road locations should include the principal commuter routes into the city/town centre, the main arterial routes, the main suburban high streets and certain high volume locations such as the approach road to a major superstore.
Other locations
These will include feeder roads, minor roads, residential suburbs and estates, This classification is also likely to encompass neighbourhood and small local “estate type” shopping centres.
Advertising Displays are now a class offered valuation support on the VOA Rating Support Application.
The current edition of the “VSA Standards” document and also any relevant standard valuation scale scope document should be followed when approaching the data capture of advertising displays.
Following data capture into RSA and for the purposes of the 2005 list onwards, small format advertising displays are referred to in terms of “single-sided” 4-sheet or “single-sided” 6-sheet panels.
Small format displays must be captured for RSA in terms of single sheet panels.
Consequently, all values shown in this practice note are expressed in terms of single-sheet panels.
All figures provided in this Practice Note reflect costs for structure, planning and illumination as appropriate.
Where valuation officers obtain rental information in respect of advertising rights, care must be taken to adjust such rents by an appropriate amount depending on the type of display; costs must be amortised and added to the rent as appropriate. This is how the 2010 valuation schemes in respect of the majority of larger format advertising displays would be expected to operate.
However, when formulating 2010 valuation schemes for small format advertising displays and where the figures are taken from this note, it is recommended that separate matrices be created for bus shelter, supermarket, lamppost, petrol filling station, motorway service areas and sponsored roundabouts as appropriate that reflect these features. For such small format schemes, it is important that the matrix description state, “All prices in this valuation scheme include structure, planning fees and/or illumination” or something to that effect.
The vast majority of advertising panels at bus shelters are displayed as 6-sheets, the typical format being double-sided, 6-sheet displays.
A small number of 4-sheet panels still remain, however as the figures provided in the “Overview” at paragraph 3 suggest, these are being gradually removed and/or, if considered viable, replaced with 6 sheet panels.
For bus shelter 6-sheet panels, the following values, expressed in terms of a single 6-sheet panel, should be adopted:
2010 List Values: Bus Shelters 6-Sheet Panels (£/single panel) |
Town Centre (£) |
Main Roads (£) |
Other |
Central London (Excluding Certain “Key Locations”, such as Oxford Street). |
1000 |
600 |
350 |
Cities and Outer London Boroughs |
550 |
400 |
225 |
Major Towns |
400 |
300 |
200 |
Other Towns |
325 |
240 |
150 |
In the absence of any local evidence to the contrary, any remaining bus shelter 4-sheet panels should be valued on the following basis, expressed in terms of a single 4-sheet panel:
2010 List Values: Bus Shelters 4-Sheet Panels (£/single panel) |
Town Centre (£) |
Main Roads (£) |
Other (£) |
Cities (including London but not London key locations as defined above in chapter 4.1) |
170 |
125 |
85 |
Major Towns |
135 |
95 |
75 |
Other Towns |
100 |
80 |
60 |
Other features that may need consideration when dealing with the valuation of bus shelter advertising displays are considered in the following paragraphs. Advice is also given on aspects of data capture and rating list address creation.
In respect of those bus shelters that have more than the standard “double 4-sheet” or “double 6-sheet” static display panels, the following approach, which replicates that taken during the 2005 Rating List maintenance, should be adopted for 2010.
For bus shelters containing more than one double panel or two single panels, it is accepted that in most cases the additional static panels do not have the same value as the first two static panels. In such cases the subsequent static panels should be valued at 50% of the appropriate single panel price.
For example:-
Where the single 6-sheet panel is £550, the third and any subsequent static panel should be taken at £275 each, being 50% of £550.
There may however be some exceptional cases where this reduced rate for third and further additional panels would not apply. For example, where a bus shelter is situated outside an underground or railway station, and where the additional static panels are specifically sited to attract the pedestrians going into and out of the station.
Each case should be judged on its own merits but in these exceptional cases, any additional static panels are expected to be valued at the same single sheet rate as the first two single panels. In other words, additional panels in exceptionally good locations typically attract no discount.
Some bus shelters display multi-scrolling 6-sheet panels. Such scrollers tend to be located in the more prominent locations and normally display 2, 3 or 4 sheets per panel face.
The scrolling panel usually has a static display panel on the rear side. It is rare to have two scrollers “back-to-back”.
In respect of bus shelters that have scrollers, the appropriate single sheet rate should be applied to each scrolling face with no discount.
Using what is a relatively new and improving format, some bus shelters incorporate electronic media to display advertisements on 6-sheet panels. Such displays are not very common as at the AVD, but are steadily increasing in number. As they are quite expensive to produce, they tend to be located in the more prominent locations offer the equivalent of 6 sheets per panel face in terms of their ability to be placed in “packages”.
The electronic panel may have a static display panel on the rear side. They are not as bulky as scrollers, so there may also be situations where there are two electronic panels “back-to-back”.
In respect of bus shelters that have electronic displays, six times the appropriate single sheet rate should be applied with no discount.
Address capture protocols must be followed when creating addresses for advertising hereditaments in the Rating Support Application (RSA).
All operators of bus shelter adverting adopt some kind of identification system and typically each bus shelter has a unique reference number displayed somewhere on the shelter. These can be numerical or alphanumerical; it should be noted in all cases and wherever possible incorporated in the rating list addresses.
This unique identification reference number is normally located on the top corner of the bus shelter, facing the road. It is typically an 8-digit number, but could be any length.
The inclusion of the site number in the Rating List address will greatly assist the identification of the site, both by the VOA and the Advertising Company.
In future and wherever possible, caseworkers are reminded to include the site number in the address when bringing any new bus shelter advertising sites into the Rating List. This also applies when altering the list following the settlement of proposals or when dealing with list maintenance work in general.
For the purposes of this paragraph, superstores include large hypermarkets and supermarkets and modern stand alone superstores with significant parking provision. The figures shown below should not be used in respect of 6-sheet advertising at traditional convenience stores located in a parade of local shops, or convenience stores at petrol filling stations.
The values to be adopted for 6-sheet panels displayed at superstores are dependent on the named operator of the store. Where details are known, the terms of licence agreements between the supermarkets and the advertising company remain unchanged following renewal. This is thought to be mainly due to the “profit-share” elements built into the arrangements on top of the base rent figures.
It has been established that both Tesco and Sainsbury retain specific rights to use panels themselves for a percentage of the time. This percentage is specified in the licence agreements and is a “retained right”; therefore in these circumstances it is not correct to value these individual panels at a level reflecting the right to advertise for 100% of the time.
In practice, those supermarkets having retained rights tend to use a particular number of panels, but not necessarily the same panels, at any one time. The combination of panels used by the supermarket appears to be agreed between the parties with due consideration for position, duration etc.
The “adjusted figures” recommended below for the main supermarkets take account of the percentage of advertising time retained by Tesco and Sainsburys, and this percentage remains unchanged from the 2005 list.
Two sets of figure are therefore provided. The first set of figures represents the full value of a standard 6-sheet panel at any particular supermarket. However, it is the second set of figures that must be adopted in the valuation of each single 6-sheet panels at the particular supermarkets mentioned. The figures only differ where the host is known to reserve advertising time.
In respect of applying figures more widely, attention is also drawn to the guidance provided in Section 11 below.
The figures provided below are expressed in terms of single-panel 6-sheet.
2010 List Figures: Supermarkets 6-Sheet Panels (£/single panel) |
Unadjusted figure (£) |
Adjusted figure to be adopted (£) |
Kwiksave* |
500 |
500 |
Co-op* |
650 |
650 |
Somerfield* |
650 |
650 |
Morrison* |
800 |
800 |
Asda* |
1050 |
1050 |
Waitrose* |
1200 |
1200 |
Tesco |
1200 |
1000 |
Sainsburys |
1200 |
800 |
*It will be noted that the “Unadjusted” and “Adjusted” figures are exactly the same for these supermarkets, as it is understood that the licences for these supermarkets do not specifically retain within their control any part of the right to display.
Central guidance is provided in respect of 6-sheet panels displayed at petrol filing station forecourts. Available rental information indicates that around 85% of forecourt advertising displays can be valued by reference to a single figure.
This means 85% of 6-sheet displays are located on stand-alone petrol filling station forecourts on classified A and B roads in urban and suburban locations.
On either side of this broad range, other displays are located in popular “honey pot” locations or on country lanes and in village centres.
The figures shown in the table below should not be adopted for displays on petrol station forecourts at motorway service stations, which should be dealt with by reference to paragraph 12 below. Neither should the figures be adopted for displays in petrol station forecourts in superstores where the petrol station is included in the superstore assessment.
The figures provided below are expressed in terms of single-panel 6-sheet. The approach to dealing with scrollers and electronic displays at paragraph 8 above should be adopted. However, there it is not appropriate to discount for multiple displays or additional static panels.
2010 List Figures: Petrol Station Forecourt 6-Sheet Panels (£/single panel) |
Figure (£) |
Expected national percentage of petrol stations where the figures are expected to apply | |
|
Premium locations: Trunk Roads and “honey pot” locations such as sports venues and stadiums, concert halls and near large regional shopping centres. |
475 |
10% | |
|
Majority of locations: All classified A & B Roads, urban and suburban locations on main traffic routes. |
350 |
85% | |
|
Remote locations: Country Lanes and villages. |
200 |
5% | |
If rental information becomes available in support of any challenge to the application of the above figures, full details of the rent must be ascertained and further advice sought using the protocols for seeking advice as appropriate.
In respect of applying figures more widely, attention is also drawn to the guidance provided in Section 14 below.
Over recent years, double sided 6-sheet advertising displays mounted within the vertical structure of lampposts have appeared, operated predominantly by a company called Streetbroadcast. The agreement under which they are operated is similar to that which operates in respect of bus shelter advertising, in that the local authority is provided with new lampposts in exchange for the right to advertise on them being granted to Streetbroadcast.
The panels are typically two and a half to three metres above ground level. Such panels should be valued at the same level as bus shelter advertising is/would be valued in the same location. Streetbroadcast also display 6-sheet advertising on lampposts and poles within shopping centre and retail park car parks.
In the absence of any better evidence of value, the bus shelter figures and considerations provided in paragraph 7 and 8 above should be used when making valuations in respect of 4-sheet and 6-sheet panels placed on lampposts.
Where 6-sheet panel advertising rights are identified on lampposts in shopping centre and retail park car parks, rental details should be obtained, adjusted, analysed and adopted as appropriate. In the absence of rental evidence, it is anticipated that such rights be compared with similar “point of sale” advertisements in other shopping centre and retail park car parks. The figures provided for supermarkets at paragraph 9 should not be used to value lamppost 6-sheets, as they relate to named supermarkets only.
Unless there is rental evidence to the contrary, Valuation Officers should adopt £300 per single sided 6-sheet at motorway service areas.
There are a wide variety of display types and sizes in use on sponsored roundabouts, ranging from small “plaques” or “nameplates” up to the size of six-sheets. Typically there are four displays per roundabout; the actual number tends to depend on the size of the roundabout and the amount of roads feeding into it. This potential for variation makes it inappropriate to promote a single figure on sponsored roundabouts and instead a step-by-step approach is recommended as outlined this paragraph. In addition, the main manual section at Rating Manual 5:20 provides guidance on how to identify and deal with various size of small format display.
As a start point, valuation Officers’ should examine rental evidence available. In many cases there is a “profit share” arrangement between the council and operator in respect of sponsored roundabouts, and this is good evidence of value in the absence of a rent. However, when making a valuation based on the “profit rent” passing to the council, care should be taken to adjust the actual profit shared to reflect the inevitable impact a newly imposed rate payment would have on the profit to be shared.
In the absence of any rental or “profit share” evidence, valuation officers’ should adopt the 6-sheet bus shelter figures specified above and apply them per sheet displayed on the roundabout, as appropriate, bearing in mind the fact that not all roundabouts are on bus routes and adjusting for the sheet sizes and numbers of sheets on display. For the sake of clarity, only the 6-sheet figures should be used. The 4-sheet bus shelter figures (or any other figures in this note) must not be used as a reference point, even if the displays on any particular roundabout are smaller than a 6-sheet. If necessary, the 6-sheet bus shelter figures should be adjusted as appropriate to take into account size of display.
As outlined above, wherever possible the rents or profit share payment arrangements should be established or the bus shelter 6-sheet figures considered if appropriate.
However, in the absence of anything better than these two indicators of value, it is considered that £600 per roundabout is a reasonable figure to adopt. Even then, roundabouts that are on busy routes and with good displays should be treated with care to ensure they are not valued at an insufficient level and, conversely, roundabouts with very small, permanent, tailor made plaques or “nameplates” should be carefully considered so they are not valued too highly. Where in doubt, advice should be sought following the current protocols as necessary.
It is possible that the figures provided in this practice note will be taken and applied more widely to other small format displays. It is therefore important to re-iterate that the figures provided in this note are expressed in terms of single panels and may also include structure, planning and illumination costs as appropriate. They must never be used to value large format advertising displays, such as 48-sheets.
Although wider use of the bus shelter figures given above is acceptable, it is important to consider “non-bus shelter” displays on their own merits. For instance any local rental and other evidence should be considered when making valuations in respect of “non-bus shelter” small format advertising panels and due account taken of location and positional differences.
The wider application of any figures provided in respect of supermarket panels is not recommended as they relate to named supermarkets only.
The wider application of the catch-all figure provided in respect of Petrol Station Forecourt panels is not recommended as it is by nature a broad scheme, subject to increase or reduction if rental evidence in the locality on similar forecourt display sites emerges. It is not considered likely that the forecourt figure will have any bearing on the figures used for bus shelters and superstores in the vicinity. However, if questions are raised regarding the differentials in value between panels in the same locality, the facts on the ground will need to be considered in each case. Care must be taken to ensure that a true comparison can be made before adjusting any figures, seeking advice following the current protocols as necessary.
The wider application of figures provided in respect of motorway service areas and sponsored roundabouts is not recommended.