§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to make it an offence to remove the roof of a factory or warehouse with the intention of avoiding the payment of rates on the property.
§ Mr. King[pursuant to his reply, 9 November 1982, c. 143]: It is for the local valuation officer, and if necessary the courts, to determine in the light of particular circumstances whether partial demolition of premises is such as would affect assessment for rates. Recent publicity over this problem highlights the very real difficulties faced by manufacturing industry, particularly during the current recession.
The Government set a limit of 50 per cent. on empty non-domestic property rates in April 1981. Below that authorities have total discretion whether to levy a lower rate or none at all. Many authorities do not choose to levy rates on empty non-domestic property.