Little respite from empty property tax, says BPF

The Chancellor's announcement that properties with a rateable value below £15,000 would be exempt from 2009 until 2010 was cautiously welcomed yesterday by campaigners against empty property rates relief. The tax on empty properties has proved deeply unpopular among small and large businesses alike, and has caused some building owners to demolish buildings they cannot fill. The exemption applies to around 70% of empty properties, according to the Chancellor. But some business leaders said the measure did not go far enough. A spokesman for the British Property Federation (BPF) said the change "will only help the very smallest property owner" and that "the majority of small firms and all larger companies continue to be damaged by the Government's ill-thought out taxation."

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