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We submitted a response to the Law Commission's consultation on Commonhold. The consultation attempts to find out which aspects of the law of commonhold have so far impeded commonhold’s success and ‘to propose reforms to invigorate commonhold as a workable alternative to leasehold for both existing and new homes’.
We welcome the proposed new approach and support any measures which simplify and speed up the development process whilst protecting and restoring nature. Developers who want to use existing approaches, however, should be able to “opt out” of the new arrangements. Consultation with the sector will be key, including consultation on the design of the new developer contribution.
The BPF response to the government’s consultation on the latest minimum energy efficiency standards for privately rented domestic properties.
Property owners stand to gain immensely from the fast rollout of high-speed telecommunications. Both residential and commercial buildings with good connectivity are more productive, more attractive to tenants and better places to be. There are however some significant problems with the how the Electronic Communications Code (ECC) is working, despite amendments made to the legislation in 2017. These issues are discouraging property owners from hosting telecommunications equipment and have facilitated a breakdown in the relationships between site providers and operators, all to the detriment of connectivity.
We responded to HMRC’s technical consultation on CIS – which proposes to introduce a VAT compliance test in order to qualify for Gross Payment Status – and also address challenges with withholding tax being applied to landlord tenant contributions for fit out works. The latter is an issue we have lobbied on for some time, and we are pleased that Government have recognised the challenges this withholding tax can put on new tenants seeking to lease new premises. We broadly welcome the draft regulations and suggest a few areas for improvement.
What: An HMRC consultation on tackling abuse in the Construction Industry Scheme.
Our view: While it’s right HMRC tackles abuse, some of the proposals could have a detrimental impact on the construction industry.
The Government is consulting on changes to the Business Rates Empty Property Relief in order to reduce opportunities for avoidance. Based on new data on typical vacancy periods, we do not think the reforms suggested are appropriate, and we have suggested that the Government should instead increase the Empty Property Relief from 3-6 months to closer to 12 months, to better reflect typical vacancy periods in the market. We have also suggested reinstating the 50% discount after the initial EPR period will better support property owners with longer term vacant units and reduce incentives for empty rates mitigation activity.
