Commenting on the Chancellor’s proposals for the high street in
the upcoming Autumn Budget, Hannah Essex, Co-Executive Director
of Policy and Campaigns, at the British Chambers of Commerce
(BCC), said:
“We’re delighted that the Chancellor has heeded our
calls to abandon the uprating of business rates for the high
street for the next two years, and gone further by cutting
billsfor the vast majority of high street firms. It’s crucial
that we support our town centres as they find their place in a
changing world.
“An alarming number of high street firms, both large and small,
are closing or being earmarked for closure. This deterioration
has cost thousands of jobs since the start of 2018. While there
are long-term structural changes taking place, including changes
to consumer habits, the tipping point for many of these firms has
been the unnecessarily large burden that business rates place on
them. Therefore, this short-term reduction in rates will be very
welcome news to those on the high street who require urgent
respite.
“Business rates are a heavy burden that throttle all firms with
steep bills regardless of how well they’re doing or the economy
is faring. We have also called on the Chancellor to ensure
that all businesses have a 12 month delay on increased business
rate bills when improving an existing property or moving to a new
premises. In the long term we will continue to call for
fundamental reform of the broken business rates system.”
On planning reform, Hannah said:
“Greater flexibility in the planning system for mixed-use
property is good news for those businesses that wear several
hats, but we’ve already seen high streets being hollowed out by
the encroachment of residential spaces. For high streets to
thrive they need a balance of tenants, and we’ve already seen
unintended consequences from previous planning reforms.
“We need to be cautious about making it easier to turn business
properties into residential ones, especially when demand for
employment land is already at a premium. Sacrificing business
land for the sake of housing leaves no room for the commercial
spaces that are fundamental to job and prosperity creation on the
high street and elsewhere.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
In it’s Budget submission the BCC asked for:
-
Introduce a Business Rates Investment Incentive
– ease the drag effect of this uniquely
iniquitous business tax on investment by providing a 12-month
delay before rates are increased when an existing property is
expanded or improved and also before rates apply to a new build
property.
-
Abandon the uprating of business rates for the next two
financial years for all businesses on the high street in town
and city centres - to ease the financial burden
on struggling businesses as they go through significant
structural changes.
