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Brands back Empty Rates battle

Tesco, Nokia, BA and McDonald's have joined the BPF's fight against empty rates with open letter to Gordon Brown published in Property Week magazine.

B&Q, British Airways, Next and Legal & General have also joined property heavyweights like Brixton, Canary Wharf and Land Securities to get business rate relief on empty buildings reapplied immediately.

BPF chief executive Liz Peace said: “It’s like making the unemployed pay income tax. Taxing hardship and business failure is a ludicrous way to help people through the hard times. Brown must act now to undo this mess.”

Rate relief was scrapped this April in a bid to raise £1.3bn. Now some property experts believe the figure could rise to £2bn due to so many firms having vacant space.

And as recession sweeps Britain, firms laying people off as they fight to survive will find themselves hit for tax on the empty space if the government continues to ignore common sense.

Dubbed the ‘bombsite Britain’ tax over the way it has caused landlords to demolish buildings rather than go bust paying rates, the British Property Federation (BPF), trade body for property, has led a year-long campaign backed by dozens of MPs.

Support for a Commons motion against the tax, placed by Halifax MP Linda Riordan, has doubled in the last week to over 70 MPs.

Riordan said: “Far from being an issue that will just affect jobs and regeneration in Halifax, empty rates will hurt all areas of the country, irrespective of what industry or political alignment they have.”

Today’s letter will heap embarrassment on the government after it set out measures last week to help businesses affected by the downturn.

In Parliament last Thursday to jeers from both benches, Gordon Brown even refused to help a 70-year-old Essex pension paying £500 of empty rates a month out of a £700 pension. The extraordinary exchange can be viewed here at 19m41s:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7684493.stm

It highlights just how ignorant the government have been over the issue.

Shadow business minister Alan Duncan called the tax ‘immoral’, saying: "Taxing something that generates no revenue does enormous damage. Removing the tax relief for empty property rates is bringing to a grinding halt any kind of activity for preparing business premises or developing wrecked premises for future use. It is taking money from people who have not got it to the point where they have to take the roof off or demolish what they have just built.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Text of the open letter is below along with quotes from various organizations and politicians who have spoken out against this tax.

Dear Prime Minister,

Scrapping relief on empty property is having a crippling effect on the UK economy, and particularly the property, retailing and manufacturing sectors.

In addition, it is also hampering regeneration by preventing development and will have a damaging effect on pension fund holdings in property which have already been hit hard by the current economic downturn.

We, the under-signed, therefore urge you to:

Restore the empty rate relief that existed before 1April 2008 so that all unoccupied properties receive full relief for the first 3 months; shops and offices pay 50% subsequently; and industrial premises receive full relief indefinitely.

We are united in calling for this, and support Property Week wholeheartedly in its 'Empty Threat' campaign to secure these aims.

Yours sincerely

--ENDS--

MPs signed up to petitions against empty rates

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36387&SESSION=891

FOR NATIONALS/BROADCAST CONTACT ANDREW TEACHER / 07968 12 4545 / ateacher@bpf.org.uk

FOR ALL OTHER QUERIES CALL MADDIE WILLIAMS 020 7802 0364 / mwilliams@bpf.org.uk