OPINION
Left hand Page: It would seem the government has its priorities all mixed up as bees get funding whilst commercial
properties are demolished; Above Left: How different Labour used to be; Above Right: Mandelson offers little optimism
Vic James, who ran a local DIY store in Halifax, said:
“There is simply no way out. I’ve worked hard all my life and
now I face the double misery of my firm going under and
having to pay a huge rates bill for a shop I can’t use.”
The scandal over post office closures has also meant that
many rural shop owners face ruin. Seven Welsh branches
in the Vale of Clwyd and the Dee Valley were given notice
to shut in October last year, as part of a round of closures
across the country. They all now face empty rates bills.
Vanessa Williams, subpostmaster at the Henlland
branch, said: “It’s appalling, absolutely disgusting. For the
post offices that have had to close, and then to pay rates
on an empty property, especially at this time, is not very
good. These post offices didn’t have a choice to close. It’s
not fair at all, but I must stress that it is not the Post Office
who are asking for these rates.”
CBI Deputy Director General John Cridland, said: “Extra
taxes on empty buildings are damaging business. The
emptyrates.com website forces government to confront this
fact. Reintroducing the previous reliefs would help business
deal with the recession. Rates on empty property have
forced companies to cut staff, and can make the difference
between surviving the downturn and going to the wall.”
Under the new rules introduced in April last year –
according to Gordon Brown to stimulate swifter lettings
– buildings no longer qualify for half rates after the first three
months of being unoccupied, or six months for factories
and warehouses. Now, full rates are payable, and are
proving too much for some businesses to bear.
The tax was introduced to stop speculative buying
up of properties, but with property values falling 40
percent, there can be no argument of this happening.
Demolition of buildings has been seen – about 15 million
square feet of space is thought to have been scrapped
nationally in the past 12 months. Redundancies are
becoming more common as companies look for the
funds to finance the tax while 15 percent of shops are
estimated to be empty by Christmas.
Among the many critics of EPR are businesses,
commercial property agents, developers, builders, the
Conservative Party, which condemned the change as
“immoral” – even Nick Brown, the Government’s Chief
Whip and Minister for the North East, has waded into the
row, speaking of the “destructive” effect he has seen in the
region as a result of the rates.
Although Chancellor Alistair Darling attempted to broker
a way forward, offering 12-month relief on properties with a
rateable value of up to £15,000 in November’s Pre-Budget
Report (PBR), his efforts were dismissed as being “woefully
inadequate”. Regional MPs including Alan Milburn, John
Cummings, Chris Mullin and Phil Wilson have urged
Mr Darling to look again at the issue.
While the government responded by saying the
exemption would benefit 70 percent of properties, the
British Property Federation unpicked the spin to reveal that
statistic included cash points, public toilets and car parking
spaces. Statistics revealed that to qualify for the exemption,
offices must be of between 1,000sq ft and 1,500sq ft
of space, and industrial units of between 5,000sq ft and
7,000sq ft, figures which account for significantly less than
the 70 percent figure. In London, it is around 30 percent.
The reality remains that thousands of businesses are
being lumbered with costs they can barely afford to pay,
but are left with little choice but to do so.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact British Property Federation at bpf.org or 020 7828
0111 or Email: info@bpf.org or visit emptyrates.com
www.estatesreview.com 13
TOPICAL PRESS AGENCY / DAN KITWOOD / ANTONIO M. ROSARIO
UP FRONT
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