Second-home owners in England could receive a share of millions of pounds of government coronavirus grants, according to real estate adviser Altus Group.
The government is asking for the planned business rates holiday to be made exempt from European Union rules restricting state aid, as financial pressures mount up due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Lending between councils has dropped as councils look to keep hold of cash due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, according to treasury adviser Arlingclose.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced plans to remove business rates for small businesses this year, as part of a £12bn package to tackle the economic impact of coronavirus.
Business rates avoidance in England costs councils an estimated £250m each year as firms exploit loopholes to get out of payments, the Local Government Association has found.
The number of outstanding business rates challenges jumped by 35% over a three-month period - from 9,260 in at the end of June 2019 to 12,580 by the end of September 2019, official figures have shown...
Local government currently has no certainty over funding and must ensure political parties see giving it greater control over its finances as a manifesto issue, says Localis’ Jonathan...
Councils have warned that reforms to increase the frequency of business rates revaluations must be properly resourced and contain measures to manage the impact on appeals.
London councils will continue to pilot business rates retention next year but at the lower rate of 75%, rather than the 100% they trialled in 2018-19, the draft local government settlement revealed...
High streets are no longer the bustling community hubs they once were, but decline doesn’t have to be terminal, says Cathy Parker of the Institute of Place Management.
Business rates are broken and deter companies from investing to boost productivity - abolishing them would bring benefits to the public sector as well as enterprise, argues Lib Dem Lord Fox.
Abolishing business rates and taxing land values instead would benefit businesses in 90% of English local authority areas, a Liberal Democrat report has claimed.
Councils are taking earlier enforcement action to collect unpaid business rates as they become increasingly reliant on this income, real estate advisors have claimed.
The third phase of business rate retention pilots will go ahead with just a 75% retention and the ‘no detriment’ clause scrapped, the government has announced.
Town and county halls in England will face a funding black hole of almost £8bn by the middle of the next decade, local government leaders warned today.
