To ask the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the number of farmhouses that have benefited from a 20 per cent reduction in their rate payments following the revaluation of rates in 2015.

Schedule 12 Part II of the Rates (NI) Order 1977 sets out the requirements that apply when assessing the rateable capital value of a farmhouse.

The legislation requires the house to be occupied in connection with agricultural land and used as the dwelling of a person whose primary occupation is the carrying on or directing of agricultural operations. The legislation also allows for the situation where someone is employed in agricultural operations on the land in the service of the occupier and is entitled to use the house while so employed. Where definitions do not appear in legislation, interpretation is guided by case law.

The District Valuer within Land & Property Services will, in carrying out continuous revision of the Valuation List, inspect the property, discuss details with the occupier, and collect all relevant detail to ensure strict compliance with the statutory requirements.

The 2015 Revaluation was in respect of non domestic properties. Farmhouses and other domestic premises, therefore, were not re-valued in 2015.

The total number of properties entered in the Valuation List as farmhouses at the end of September 2015 was just over 32,000. The Valuation List is not compiled on the basis of parliamentary constituency; therefore, it is not possible to provide a figure for East Londonderry.