A BUSINESS property agent is warning Swindon firms could find themselves facing a heavy hike in their business rates next year.

Alan Morrish, a rating specialist and associate at Alder King, said: "With rising rental values in recent years, the prospect is that business rates will rise in 2005 in some cases dramatically.

"Within Swindon, commercial rents have increased substan-tially, with newer, smaller industrial and trade-counter units seeing potentially the biggest rises.

"Recent lettings of offices at Churchward, Delta and Dorcan, which point to a trend in rising rents, could also see increased rates liabilities for many office occupiers."

In addition, Mr Morrish is also warning businesses to be on their guard should requests for infor-mation from the Valuation Office Agency, the Inland Revenue agency responsible for assessing rateable values, be made to them.

Mr Morrish said: "The agency has gained new powers to levy civil penalties on anyone not supplying the information it needs to value properties for business rates.

"As the agency is working towards the next non-domestic revaluation, which comes into effect in April 2005, these new penalties are part of the agency's drive to collect all the relevant data."

The new legislation allows 56 days for completion and return of the form and when this period has expired, the agency can impose a fixed penalty of £100.

If the information required is still outstanding after 21 days, another £100 fine can be levied and then a charge of £20 per day until the form is returned.

Mr Morrish said: "In the past, businesses have tended not to respond quickly to the agency, so these new penalties are part of the agency's drive to collect all the relevant data."

However, a recent survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors estimated businesses were wasting millions of pounds in overpaid business rates by not appealing against rating assess-ments.

Mr Morrish said: "There is no doubt that rate payments make a real impact on the bottom line for many local companies. But as rating is a notoriously dry subject, complicated by ever changing regulations, many businesses simply do not take the trouble to challenge their rating assess-ment."

Local government minister Nick Raynsford said yesterday that the Government was examining all options for bringing greater fairness and transparency to local government finance.

He said he understood the concerns of businesses that local councils might regain control over the level of the business rate though he also pointed out that businesses' share of the burden had declined in recent years.