22/06/2009
The British Property Federation (BPF) has rejected prime minister Gordon Brown's explanation for charging business rates on empty premises as "seriously misleading".
Responding to a BPF petition demanding the restitution of the empty property rate relief available prior to April 1 2008, Mr Brown claimed that this would cost the government £950 million and that the tax encouraged landlords to re-let and reuse vacant properties.
Yet the BPF has told Property Week that the prime minister's claims are "spin of epic proportions", refuting wholly his argument that taxing owners of commercial premises without tenants will help them to find tenants in the midst of a recession.
Chief executive Liz Pearce questioned: "Why would any landlord keep a property empty in a falling market?
"Businesses are failing daily, so where does the prime minister expect these tenants to come from?"
The BPF's e-petition, which was posted on the Ten Downing Street website, garnered 5,710 signatures in total before closing.
In April 2008, shops and offices vacant for more than three months became liable for full business rates, whereas their owners had previously only had to pay 50 per cent of this tax.
Industrial premises were once wholly exempted from empty rates, but now they are also subject to this levy once they have been vacant for over six months.
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