Software & professional tools

Despite significant advances in technology, spreadsheets remain one of the most widely used tools in commercial property management. For many organisations, they continue to perform an important role. They are familiar, flexible and relatively easy to build. However, as portfolios become larger, reporting requirements increase and property data becomes more business critical, an important question is beginning to emerge: Is commercial property management outgrowing spreadsheets?   When a quick solution becomes a critical process Spreadsheets often begin with good intentions. A team needs to track information, monitor activity or report on a specific area of the portfolio, and a spreadsheet provides a fast solution. Over time, however, that spreadsheet evolves. Additional columns are added, new versions are created and more people become involved in maintaining it. Before long what started as a temporary solution becomes a critical source of information. As portfolios grow, so does the complexity of managing that information consistently.   The challenge isn't collecting data Most organisations are not short of property data. They hold information relating to hereditaments, valuations, leases, occupation, acquisitions, disposals and much more....

Now the 2026 Rating List is in place, the focus shifts from planning to execution. For estates teams and rating professionals, this is where day to day workflows take over. Records need to be reviewed, data needs to be interrogated and decisions need to be made across an entire estate, often at pace. At this point, the effectiveness of the underlying platform becomes far more apparent.   Working without friction In practice, managing rating data is not a single task. It is a series of actions carried out repeatedly across multiple hereditaments. Opening records, cross checking attributes, comparing positions, reviewing history and moving between properties without losing context. Where systems are not designed for this those actions become disjointed. Information sits in different places, steps are repeated and time is lost navigating between tools. Where platforms are built around how teams actually work, that process becomes seamless. Users can move between records, interrogate data and carry out reviews without breaking their workflow.   Reducing manual effort A large part of rating work is not analysis, it is handling data. Copying...

With less than two weeks until the 2026 Rating List takes effect, most organisations already understand how their portfolios are expected to move. Draft List analysis has been completed, modelling is in place and key areas of change have been identified. The focus now is not on uncovering new information but on working with that position confidently across an entire estate, without delay or uncertainty. This is where the quality of underlying systems becomes critical. From insight to action at portfolio level At this stage, the challenge is no longer identifying movement in rateable value, but being able to interrogate, validate and act on it quickly. For organisations managing large or complex estates, that requires more than access to data. It requires a structured environment where hereditament records, valuation data and historical changes can be viewed together, compared easily and understood in context. Where that structure is in place, teams can move seamlessly between the 2023 position and the 2026 Draft List, isolate areas of change and assess impact across the portfolio without reverting to manual processes. A single, reliable...

On 27th January 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government issued its first business rates information letter of the year, confirming a new pubs and live music venues relief for the 2026 to 2027 billing period. The announcement confirmed that eligible pubs and live music venues will receive a 15% business rates relief, alongside a commitment to freeze bills in real terms for a further two years. Published shortly after the release of the 2026 Draft Rating List, the update highlights how quickly the business rates landscape can change during a revaluation cycle. For organisations managing portfolios that include pubs or other specialist hereditaments, this reinforces the importance of having clear visibility and control across their estates.   A fast moving environment The introduction of a new relief at this stage of the cycle illustrates the pace at which policy decisions can emerge. While sector specific support is not new, changes introduced alongside draft valuations, revaluation preparation and ongoing Duty to Notify obligations add further complexity. Understanding which hereditaments fall within specialist categories, and how they are recorded,...

The start of 2026 marks an important point for the business rates sector. Following a period of change across the industry, attention is now firmly focused on the next phase of the rating cycle and the expectations it brings. Over the past year, Inform completed its rebrand and continued to refine its focus on clarity, consistency and dependable data. As the sector enters 2026, those themes are becoming increasingly central to how rating data is managed and relied upon. With the 2026 Draft Rating List now published, the Revaluation approaching and Duty to Notify continuing to reshape processes, organisations are operating in a landscape where accuracy, visibility and accountability matter more than ever.   The role of the Draft Rating List The Draft Rating List provides the first view of proposed rateable values ahead of the live list taking effect on 1 April 2026. Based on rental evidence as at 1 April 2024, it allows organisations to compare the VOA’s position against their internal records and begin assessing potential impacts across their estates. For teams managing multiple hereditaments, this early...