Jeremy Richards, head of the Bristol office at JLL, said: “We welcome the announcement of a new Development Investment Bank for small house builders and self-builders. The barriers to entry are too high for this group, which has weakened competition, innovation and importantly the ability to deliver higher volumes of new supply across the UK. This investment bank is exactly the sort of strategic intervention needed to expand housing supply.
“We also welcome the announcement to extend the deadline by which businesses will need to have located in an Enterprise Zone in order to claim business rate discounts to 31 March 2018. However this is a missed opportunity to announce a fundamental reform of the business rate system and align it with other tax policies announced today.
“In last year’s Autumn Statement, the Chancellor threw the retail industry a bone by announcing a 2 per cent cap and rate relief, but what struggling retailers would benefit from is an announcement about bringing forward business rates valuations and a guarantee about future valuations being undertaken on a more frequent basis. Our recent research highlighted that 40 per cent of UK locations are losing out as a result of the deferral and further damage to the UK high street is inevitable if revaluations are delayed in the future.”
