Pressure over the tax on empty property is set to increase as the British Property Federation (BPF) launches emptyrates.com to track the chaos of demolitions and scrapped regeneration schemes, while giving the public a voice directly to local MPs.
The BPF wants the relief put back to how it was a year ago when Gordon Brown scrapped it. The website – backed by the likes of ASDA, Tesco, EDF and AXA and the CBI - will catalogue the effects of the tax and allow people to tell their own stories.
The Government removed the relief from business rates for empty commercial space last April and has pressed on despite the recession and the fact that 15 per cent of retailers are likely to go bust this year, leaving swathes of empty shops.
Before 1 April last year, empty offices and shops were liable for half their rates bills while industrial units paid nothing. Since then they’ve been taxed the full amount, despite the lack of income.
In spite of worsening conditions, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson claimed that empty rates were “good for business.” The Government responded to BPF pressure with a concession in last November’s pre-Budget report offering a one-year holiday for tiny properties – those with a rateable value below £15,000.
