Commercial property experts at Bruton Knowles’ Bristol office have welcomed Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement of an immediate overhaul of the business rates system.
Head of office Paul Matthews said: “This is a victory for common sense. Reform of the archaic business rates system is long overdue and it’s good to see the Government finally acknowledging and responding to the need for change in order to make the system fairer for business.
“The doubling of the small business rate relief, as announced in last year’s Autumn Statement, for a further year and the capping of inflation-linked business rates at two per cent are welcome measures in the short-term, but the long-term focus must be on reforming the system so that it is fit for the 21st century and not the 17th century when it was first introduced.
“Among the changes we would like to be considered as part of the review is the calculation of business rates on an annual basis rather than every five years as it is currently.
“This would ensure that rates more accurately reflect the current value of the property and not the value five years prior, when market conditions may have been completely different.
“Instead of business rates being based upon the physical property a business occupies, what we need is a fairer system, in which the calculated rateable value takes into account the type of business in occupation and not just the space they occupy at a snapshot in time.”
