The rateable occupier
Patrick H. Bond, Peter K. Brown · 2023
A rateable occupier should have the right to carry out the purpose of his or her occupation without anyone else on the premises doing the same thing. If there is a competing occupier for the same purpose then one or other but not both will be the rateable occupier. The Tribunal considered the ratepayers had exclusive use of the fibre pairs; no one else could send signals through the fibres and it was their own equipment that provided the laser light pulse for signal transmission. It can often be a fine line in deciding who is the rateable occupier and of what. Exclusivity means there can only be one rateable occupier for a particular purpose. The Court of Appeal decided Reservoir Aggregates occupation was exclusive and its purpose of extracting gravel was seen as separate from Thames Water&s;s alternative purpose of having the reservoir deepened.