The Chancellor’s Budget announcement today has failed to support the UK’s commercial property industry, according to Lambert Smith Hampton.
Richard Wackett, national head of Business Rates at Lambert Smith Hampton, said: “The Chancellor announced that this is a budget for ‘makers, doers and savers’, but what about commercial property landlords, developers and occupiers?
“George Osborne’s decision to extend the business rate discounts for companies in enterprise zones is a welcome move but it isn’t enough to help the wider commercial property market. Tinkering around the edges will have little impact on the supply constraints that are acting as a drag on economic growth.
“A combination of full empty rate charges and the failure to revalue has unfairly affected those sectors of the economy that most need help. In addition, the 100% charge to owners of empty commercial and industrial buildings has left the most buoyant sectors without high quality, grade A accommodation. Businesses have been forced to make do with poorer second hand stock, which is slowing the economic recovery and pushing up rents.
“As the UK takes steps towards a full financial recovery, the Chancellor should have done more to address underlying issues in the interests of growth. It’s another missed opportunity.”