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No rates were payable on decommissioned telecommunications hereditaments consisting of land, cabinets and a mast with non-rateable equipment removed because there was no rateable occupation since there was no use being made of the hereditament and the items remaining were worthless. In any event, each hereditament must be treated as unoccupied by virtue of s 65 (5) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 because it was not in use and the articles being kept on the hereditament were plant, machinery or equipment which was used on the hereditament when it was last in use, and the presence of those items must be disregarded pursuant to s 65 (5). The hereditament was not liable to unoccupied property rates as it was not a relevant non-domestic hereditament as defined in reg 2 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2008 because it was not a building since it comprised a mast (agreed not to be a building) plus cabinets which were roadside street furniture and would not be referred to as buildings.
