Michael Meadowcroft slams Business Rates in the Observer

ALTER member and former Parliamentarian Michael Meadowcroft makes a cogent point in last week's Observer….

A Better Business Rate Formula, the Observer, 26.02.17

One of the key problems with the current basis for business rates (''Small Shops recoil in the face of rates that will more than double", Business, last week), is that the valuations are based on rental values. Thus a business that improves its premises and contributes towards the success of the area increases the rental value and therefore brings more expense, whereas a business that neglects its premises and is a factor in the decline·of the area decreases its costs. It is just the opposite of what should be the case.

If rates were based on land values according to a site's maximum permitted development it has a much more stable foundation, with the incentive being to make the best use of the site.

Michael Meadowcroft, Leeds