Articles
Further Government Squeeze on business rates as the threshold on empty property relief is reduced to its 2010 levels from 1st April 2011
The Department for Communities and Local Government has recently announced that the empty property relief threshold for business rates will be reduced to its 2010 levels from 1st April 2011
This means that those publicans who are the leaseholders or freeholders of pubs that have been forced to close, but who have not managed to sell their interest may soon be faced with the requirement to pay the business rates for the property, even though it's empty.
It is also a further point to remember if you are considering the possibility of closing your pub and you are calculating what your future liabilities will be.
If a pub is empty, the owner is afforded 3 months grace from the date the pub becomes empty where no business rates are payable. Unless the pub qualified for empty property relief you would have to pay the business rates after this date.
In April 2010 and in light of the number of empty commercial premises, the Government announced that the threshold for properties to qualify for empty property relief from business rates was to be increased.
Before April 2010 if the rateable value of the property was below £2,600.00 you qualified for empty property relief and no business rates were payable. After April 2010 this threshold was temporarily increased for any non domestic property with a rateable value of less than £18,000.00.
There was hope rather than expectation that the Government would extend the period for the increased threshold but this has not materialised and this could further squeeze the industry.
For further advice on the above or any other property issue please contact us on 020 7354 3000. Alternatively see our retail and hospitality or commercial property sections for more information.
Author: Taf Ali
Published: Published as part of a monthly series of property law columns in the Publican Magazine written by Colman Coyle.
Date: February 2011