Local authorities reported to Communities and Local Government that there were 186,400 hereditaments in receipt of empty property relief on 31 December 2007. On the same date in 2008 the number was 147,900.
These figures were not collected for 2006-07 and no estimate has been made for 2009-10.
The amount of empty property relief granted in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 and the amount forecast to be granted in 2009-10 are as follows:
£ million 2006-07 1,362 2007-08 1,294 2008-09 487 2009-10 570
In 2008-09, the rules governing empty and partly occupied property relief were reformed by the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 and further reforms were introduced for 2009-10.
Data are as reported to Communities and Local Government by all billing authorities in England on the annual National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) returns.
The figures given are the net empty property relief granted in that year irrespective of the year to which the empty property relief related. It can also include the repayment of non-domestic rates where empty property relief should have been granted in previous years but was not.
Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term, providing strong incentives for owners to re-let and re-use empty property. A £1.3 billion subsidy to owners of empty commercial property was no longer justified.
However, we have listened to owners. In 2009-10 all empty properties with rateable values up to £15,000 are eligible for full relief from business rates—70 per cent. of all properties are under this threshold and, if empty, are not liable for rates in 2009-10.
This temporary measure is providing real help to owners to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market.
No estimate has been made of the proportion of hereditaments, which have a rateable value below £15,000, that are claiming full relief from business rates as a result of being empty.
The ‘National Non-domestic rates collected by local authorities in England 2009-10 (Forecast)’ Statistical Release that was published on 28 May 2009 estimated that, in total, 148,000 hereditaments were empty in England as at 31 December 2008. This release can be found on the CLG website at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/nondomesticrates200910f
Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term, providing strong incentives for owners to re-let and re-use empty property. A £1.3 billion subsidy to owners of empty commercial property was no longer justified.
However, we have listened to owners. In 2009-10 all empty properties with rateable values up to £15,000 are eligible for full relief from business rates—70 per cent. of all properties are under this threshold and, if empty, are not liable for rates in 2009-10.
This temporary measure is providing real help to owners to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market.
No data on the monetary value of the full relief from business rates in 2009-10 given to empty properties with a rateable value below £15,000 are collected centrally.
An impact assessment of the proposals to increase the exemption threshold for empty property relief from £2,200 to £15,000 was published in February 2009. This forecast is based on a number of assumptions, which are detailed in the impact assessment available at:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/em/uksiem_20090353_en.pdf
The impact assessment forecast that the reform would increase the amount of empty property relief provided by £205 million. The forecast excludes the relief granted to hereditaments with a rateable value of less than £2,200, of which no estimate has been made.
This information is not collected centrally.