Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008

How long before unlet speculative commercial new-builds are demolished?

BBC: Buildings 'razed to avoid taxes'

The BBC reports that more commercial properties are succumbing to the bulldozers as landowners attempt to minimise their losses as the dearth of commercial renters deepens.

Posted by enuii @ 07:14 PM (421 views) Add Comment

4 Comments

1. mark wadsworth said...

Good question. It appears, choosing Medway Council at random, but presumably the rules are the same everywhere, that newbuilds only get a 6 month exemption from Council Tax (Class C). Or builders might prefer to leave newbuilds only part-finished, then being exempt under Class A.

Hmmm, we'll see.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 09:50PM Report Comment
 

2. enuii said...

Found this article interesting as I have been watching 23 new-build 2 storey office buildings with 390 parking spaces that have been complete for over 5 months now built by Marshall Commercial Development Projects right next to the M6 in Warrington. Not a single one has an occupant at either free or leasehold and I suspect they will be getting their fingers burnt on this one as they stand vacant like a sore thumb and are aptly named Olympic Park yet don't seem to be winning any medals.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 11:01PM Report Comment
 

3. drewster said...

According to an older article (March 2008), developers are leaving the roof off almost-finished buildings in order to avoid paying the new empty building tax:

Times: Developers warn of a roofless response to new rules on rates
Britain’s biggest commercial property developers are threatening to take the roofs off buildings in an attempt to circumvent changes to business rates, The Times has learnt.

Ian Coull, chief executive of Segro, which owns £4.4 billion of industrial property, said that he was ready to leave his large new developments without a roof to avoid paying rates on empty buildings. Tim Wheeler, chief executive of Brixton, which owns £2.4 billion of warehousing, said that the imminent changes to rates relief would mean his company would demolish old buildings earmarked for redevelopment far earlier than planned, leaving “piles of rubble” in their place.


I wonder how much of the roof they have to remove? Leaving the roof off a new-build is fairly straightforward; but removing the roof from an existing building is more risky, the interior would be ruined and the electric wiring could suffer long-term damage.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 11:21PM Report Comment
 

4. titaniccaptain said...

As I said in a previous blogg..............what about new mixed use projects where you have shops below and flats above?????? if they knock down the shops, the homes above arnt going to be left standing on thin air...................so they will be knocking down new built houses eh gordon...............

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 12:47AM Report Comment
 

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