Market Insight

Vail Williams: The Chancellor offers optimistic message to small businesses, but falls short of announcing details of the expected rates reforms

March 17, 2016

Commercial property consultants Vail Williams respond to the Budget in which the Chancellor offers some relief to small businesses, but failed to mention the widely anticipated reforms to business rates from April 2017.

Simon Moffatt, Lead Partner – Business Rates Consultancy at Vail Williams commented “At face value, the announcement on the new threshold for the Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) is welcome news, although for many small businesses it’s probably too little and too late.

Disappointingly, the chancellor has failed to address the promised whole-scale review of national non-domestic business rates. The details of the much anticipated ‘root and branch’ reform of the business rates system did not feature in today’s budget. As a consequence, we are can only assume the new ‘Check, Challenge, Appeal’ process will be implemented for the 2017 Revaluation.

No doubt further information will be provided in the Chancellor’s formal budget statement and we will review the implications in due course.

For more information about Vail Williams LLP, please visit www.vailwilliams.com.