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03/12/2008
Rate relief an "empty gesture" |
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An industry insider has criticised the government's intention to increase the threshold at which properties are liable to pay business rates.
In his pre-Budget report, Alistair Darling announced that from April 2009 the threshold will be raised from £2,200 to £15,000, but Claire Paraskeva, a director at GVA Grimley, has labelled this an "empty gesture".
Despite the government's claims that the move will exempt around 70 per cent of empty properties, Ms Paraskeva states that it will only actually affect a "very small proportion" of the overall empty rateable value that exists.
She says that the change in policy will do little to provide a "badly needed" injection of cash for areas that are in need of regeneration.
"Occupiers of vacant properties will continue to demolish their property assets, or rather liabilities as the new measures do nothing to help mitigate their holding costs," she added.
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