The RICS has put forward its pre-budget suggestions for the residential and commercial property sectors, which it believes will encourage economic growth in 2011 and which the Chancellor George Osborne would do well to consider. One of the most important for the commercial property sector is the heavily debated issue of EPR or Empty Property Rates.
On 1st April 2008 the government removed the previous blanket policy of rate relief that had cushioned commercial property owners whose buildings were left vacant for periods of time. The resulting pleas from the British Property Foundation (BPF) and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) went largely ignored and, although the government did introduce a threshold of a rateable value of £15,000, this has been a controversial subject ever since. Currently the threshold stands at £18,000 but in April 2011 this is due to be reduced to £2,600*.
As part of the proposal the RICS has recommended to the government that not only should the threshold not be lowered but that the Empty Property Rates relief that currently exists should be extended for the good of the commercial property sector. They have backed this up with the first comprehensive research on the subject. Carried out in 2009, this research found that the impact of the changes initiated in 2008 included:
Giving cpmmercial property owners more time to find tenants for their properties before they become liable for property rates is the only sensible move in this market. Small businesses should be encouraged to invest in commercial property and this can only be possible if property and small business development are at the heart of the upcoming budget.
* http://www.rics.org/site/scripts/news_article.aspx?newsID=2067
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