What A Relief - From Empty Rates Liability

The controversy over the unfair and anachronistic business rates system is constantly in the main stream press at the moment and today saw the BBC report on the expected announcement of a freeze to rates rises to be announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement. One of the business rates issues making the legal news this year continues to be the way property owners have tried to reduce their empty rates bills. We thought an update might be helpful.

Short Term Lets – Potentially useful over this Christmas trading period as occupation for more than six weeks means that when the property next becomes unoccupied, a further rate-free period of three months (six months for industrial or warehouse properties) will apply. As a result, mitigation schemes involving the grant of leases to tenants willing to store items in premises for short periods (but no less than six weeks) have become common. See our previous posting about the Makro Properties Ltd v Nuneaton and