St Albans Council writes off £173,000 in unpaid business rates
Bankruptcy and untraceable debtors lead to clearance of debts
Almost £173,000 in unpaid business rates have been written off by St Albans City & District Council.
Councillors on the authority’s strategy and resources committee agreed on Tuesday (June 23) to write off the debts, accrued by four different companies.
Three of the companies have declared bankruptcy, with debts written off for Achieve Group (£37,413), Home County Public House (£79,772) and Jessica Wilson Design (£28,166).
The authority has also written off £27,247 owed by Redcated between 2011 and 2014. A council report said the company had surrendered its lease at Verulam Industrial Estate for “non-payment”, and that bailiffs had been “unable to trace” the debtor.
Richard Skilbeck, the council’s revenues and benefits manager, said the council was “very limited” in its options for recovering money from companies who have declared bankruptcy.
A report by Mr Skilbeck said allowances are made by the council for the non-collection of debt and that there would be “no additional cost” to the council from the £173k write offs.
St Albans City & District Council collects around £75m in business rates every year from more than 4,000 commercial properties, with the authority retaining 40% of the sums collected.
In 2024/25, the authority’s collection rate for business rates was 98.61%.