Businesses join BPF in empty rate relief call

News Article - 27 October 2008
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Several large companies have echoed calls from the British Property Federation (BPF) to reintroduce empty rate relief.

Firms including Tesco, BA and Nokia have written an open letter to the prime minister, published in Property Week magazine, urging him to restore relief to its form before April 1st this year.

This would see unoccupied premises have full relief for the first three months, with offices and shops paying 50 per cent after this and industrial properties benefitting from indefinite relief.

"It's like making the unemployed pay income tax," said Liz Peace, BPF chief executive.

"Taxing hardship and business failure is a ludicrous way to help people through the hard times. Brown must act now to undo this mess."

The BPF said that support was growing in the House of Commons for a motion opposed to the tax, with the number of MPs behind it doubling to more than 70 in the last week.

Halifax MP Linda Riordan, who placed the motion, said that empty rates will harm the whole of the UK, "irrespective of what industry or political alignment they have".

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