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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.
Our response welcomes the proposals to introduce a national scheme of delegation to create a more consistent approach to determining which applications go to planning committees, and which can be decided by planning officers. We also provide feedback on how councillor training can be made effective in practice as well as commenting on how the operation of planning committees can be improved more broadly.
The BPF strongly welcomes the consultation proposals to put development activity at the heart of the Government’s growth agenda and achieve a step change in housing delivery. We suggest ways in which the positive multi-tenure approach to housing can be improved further as well as setting out how the promising proposals for planning for employment can be even more impactful to deliver more economic growth and jobs.
Our response raises concerns about the proposals to expand the scenarios whereby a landowner could be deprived of market value for certain forms of brownfield and land allocated for housing in a local plan. Our submission notes the proposals could have unintended consequences of increasing uncertainty in the land market ultimately leading to fewer sites coming forward for housing development in overall terms.
Our response notes that compliance with a new regulatory regime is likely to be more challenging for landlord-run heat networks and does not easily fit within existing landlord and tenant/housing legislation. We also call for certainty to allow existing property developers, landlords and other stakeholders to prepare for the impact of new regulation.
A short briefing highlighting the potential benefits to residential development in town centres and some of the current policy challenges surrounding this - informed by a roundtable co-hosted with Gowling WLP.
