Tag Archives: business rates

Live and campaign in an area with a lot of second homes?

By David Beavan | Mon 16th April 2018 - 8:12 am

East Suffolk Liberal Democrats are campaigning against a loophole that allows second home owners to avoid paying rates by saying they are businesses. A second home, that is available for holiday lets for 140 days a year (they don’t have to actually let it, except in Wales!), can claim to be a business for rates, and all properties of less than £12,000 valuation receive 100% small business rate relief – so they pay nothing. (NB this is not the same as Furnished Holiday Lets.)

In Southwold, more than half the houses are second homes and local people are priced out of …

Posted in Campaign Corner and News | Also tagged council tax and second homes | 3 Comments

Time to speak out against business rates

By Chris White | Mon 20th February 2017 - 7:05 pm

Margaret Thatcher nationalised the business rates because she felt local councils could not be trusted to work sensibly with local businesses. At around the same time she introduced the community charge in place of domestic rates, which morphed into the less regressive – but still considerably regressive – council tax.

Liberal Democrats have agonised over the latter and our policy is still to introduce a Local Income Tax, instantly handing the tabloids an easy stick with which to beat us – the Lib Dems want a chancellor in every town hall and plan to increase our taxes. The policy is right …

Posted in News | 7 Comments

Opinion: Transport – time for a home-working revolution?

By Mark Hofman | Mon 31st October 2011 - 7:45 am

The weekend is often over in the blink of an eye, and come Monday morning it’s off to work for the masses. The daily commute, whether it be by any means of transport, is often chaotic, crowded and frankly rather unpleasant for many.

It is a self – evident truth that our transport network is overcrowded. Even now with unemployment rates not seen for a generation, many of us will struggle for hours every day to travel to our respective workplaces.

Can the government help?

The government could assist by offering business rate reductions for employers willing to facilitate their employees working from home.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged transport | 8 Comments

Andrew Stunell MP writes: Re-localisation of business rates will give councils real financial freedom

By Andrew Stunell MP | Tue 19th July 2011 - 2:21 pm

Yesterday’s announcement of our plan to re-localise business rates is one of the most significant reforms announced by the Coalition so far. Ok, not as newsworthy as the phone hacking scandal, but it’s big news for local democracy nonetheless. It marks another fundamental shift from central control to local responsibility.

Under the current local government funding system, Whitehall dishes out grant allocations to councils each year based on an incomprehensible formula that is far too complex and lacking in transparency. Most of this money is funded by the business rates, collected locally, but funnelled centrally, and then reallocated. Councils are left at the whim of the formula-setter in Whitehall, and there is no incentive to promote business growth either. All you get are the extra HGVs, but none of the rates income! All this is about to change.

So what are the main things that Liberal Democrats need to know?

Posted in Local government | Also tagged tax increment financing powers | 13 Comments