Council strikes rates for Mid & East Antrim

From April, the average householder’s bill will increase by 34p per week (or £17.59 per year), and the average business rate by £4.44 per week (or £231.00 per year).

Mayor, Councillor William McCaughey, said: “It is vital we continue as a Council to support the recovery of our society as we move out of the pandemic, and we will remain focused on doing everything within our power to help our businesses and communities to prosper and grow.

“We began our rates process back in August of last year, and have been working round the clock to identify savings and efficiencies.

“That work has helped us ensure that the impact of rates on our citizens is minimised, while at the same time maximising the resource at our disposal to ensure vital support is available and that we can invest as required in our Borough and its infrastructure.”

Chair of Council’s Policy and Resources Committee, Alderman Billy Ashe MBE, said: “We will continue to face challenges, as will all councils in Northern Ireland, during the coming months and years, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to recovery and regeneration across all areas of our society.”

The average domestic rates bill will be £1,002.05 per annum. Based on average capital value, this places homes in Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s rates bill 5th lowest out of Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas.

Likewise, the average business rates bill will be £12,237, ranking the Borough 7th lowest out of all councils, based on average net annual value.

Council’s portion of the rates amounts to 50% of the rates bills received by residents and 53.6% of businesses rates bills in Mid and East Antrim, with the remainder of each set by the Stormont Executive.

Meanwhile, the neighbouring borough of Antrim and Newtownabbey saw the Council strike what is understood to be the lowest rates in Northern Ireland.

After lengthy consideration and having regard to current and predicted inflationary pressures and cost increases, the Council has decided to apply a modest increase of 1.9% to the rates. Coupled with an anticipated Regional Rates freeze, this equates to an overall increase of 0.84% or 15 pence per week for an average household and is well below the rate of inflation.

The local authority pointed out that ‘this achievement continues to reinforce the Council’s reputation and track record for the lowest rates increases since the new Council was formed in 2015’.

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