EMPTY Property Rates (EPR) are paving the way for instability in non-residential markets as demolition becomes an increasingly popular means to avoid paying the rates, a survey has found.
The survey, by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Lambert Smith Hampton, found that 93 per cent of property owners surveyed agreed EPR exacerbated their financial difficulties.
The study – released ahead of tomorrow’s Budget as calls grow for Chancellor Alistair Darling to relieve the EPR burden – found that investment in new properties had fallen, with the industrial sector hardest hit. A further 89 per cent of respondents said they believed demolition was their best option to escape EPR.
The findings of the survey support the Building on Success campaign by The Northern Echo with the North-East Chamber of Commerce, which calls for full relief from EPR to be reinstated.
Kevan Carrick, policy spokesman for RICS North- East, said: “Quite simply, the sooner this inappropriate and badly-timed tax is relaxed the better.”
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