Reply to: Business Rates

[d000hg]

FFS are you a teenage, chav?

You've employed text-speak (FFS) and can't use commas correctly. Well done.

[Dactylion]

Um, most people working for the council earn like £19K.

FFS are you a teenage, chav?

[TykeMerc]

The really stupid thing about all this kerfuffle over the failing High Street is that near enough everywhere still charges for parking. Essentially it's an extra tax that the out of town shoppers don't have to pay, and then we wonder why people don't go to the High Street shops anymore.

It's certainly a major contributor, I only have to look at how my behavior changed with my home town.
There used to be reasonably abundant (if you didn't find one straight away 5 mins would cover it) on street parking, no fees 1.5 hours max stay, enforced fairly enthusiastically by the parking vultures.
A few years back they took out at least 50% of the spaces by a combination of pointless chicanes and pedestrianisation of streets no-one walked up anyway, introduced ticketed parking via expensive and not reliable, correct change only machines and cut the time you could stay to max 1 hour.

Net effect the town center no longer has many cars in it and certainly isn't plagued by many shoppers. Before the change I often would nip into town for something or other, post change I genuinely can't recall the last time I went into a town center shop.
The town was famous with its traders for having horribly high rates and rents (council owned units), but because there was a fairly large amount of business it was sustainable. Post changes to parking that level of business dropped below the the levels needed and a load of shops have closed.
I'm sure that scenario is repeated all over the country.

[lilelvis2000]

And if rates went down you'd be able to put your rent up.

If rates went down I could charge less rent and still be able to pay the bills. The rents right now are just at break even. Were rates to go up, than i'd have to increase rents. But then the tenants would probably just move out.

[MarillionFan]

If I charged market rates for the office rooms I rent out, nobody would rent them. Instead I charge half the market rate. And my rates...stay the same because they are based on the maximum rent possible, not what I am actually charging. And if I leave the place empty I get charged empty rates. Lovely..a economic downturn and I'm screwed and the govt. could give a rats ass.

Nevermind the utility companies charging about £1/day each as a standing charge.

And if rates went down you'd be able to put your rent up.

[lilelvis2000]

As it gives the opportunity for the landlord to increase rents

If I charged market rates for the office rooms I rent out, nobody would rent them. Instead I charge half the market rate. And my rates...stay the same because they are based on the maximum rent possible, not what I am actually charging. And if I leave the place empty I get charged empty rates. Lovely..a economic downturn and I'm screwed and the govt. could give a rats ass.

Nevermind the utility companies charging about £1/day each as a standing charge.

[MarillionFan]

Why has this not happened before across the country?

I really do not understand why business rates have not been dramatically cut in areas with large amounts of empty premises.

Rochdale proposes to cut business rates by up to 80% | News | Drapers

BBC News - High Street: Portas criticises government over 'token gestures'

As it gives the opportunity for the landlord to increase rents

[d000hg]

Highstreet shops are so last millenium.
Out of town malls are the way to go

They're the way it's gone but they're soulless, boring and tiring. Walking down the high-street, stopping for a coffee - even at a chain like Nero - and continuing on is rather nice. Visiting the "food court" (what a depressing phrase in itself) is just misery. It's got the ambience of visiting an airport and nobody does that for fun!

[TestMangler]

Because councils want to wring the last penny out of businesses and really dont give a ****.

I ran a retail business for 5 years with Mrs Bolshie. We were lucky to get out with the clothes on our back. The local council use every trick in the book to screw you for money.

They repeatedly questioned us where we took our rubbish and why we were not buying rubbish removal services from them. We repeatedly told them (and showed them) we recycled virtually everything. The small amount of stuff we didnt recycle, was stored on site.

They just would not believe you could recycle so much stuff and continually pestered us. Eventually to shut them up and get them off our back, we engaged a certified waste disposal company to come and take away one bin sack of rubbish. It cost us £50 but also provided a certification of waste.

The next time the council came round and demanded to know where our rubbish went I stuffed the certificate under the weasel's nose. I kid not, he spent 10 minutes closely examining the certificate and phoned his office to confirm the company was on the council's approved list of waste companies!

Its no wonder there are so many empty stores.

This ^^

Back in 2001 or so I had a shop (computers) and another unit/store in a business centre, where the bin collections etc were private and included in the rent. I was repeatedly chased for moving cardboard boxes from the shop, where I would have to pay the council extra for bin collections, to the unit where I didn't. In the end the council legal department stopped me doing it as moving boxes is 'unsafe' and I did not have the required waste transfer certificate to move it myself. In the end, I had to buy a roll of bin bags from the council's private bin collectors (which included the collection fees) for £240 !!

More recently, when I had a café, the council hassled the living daylights out of me about waste oil disposal, which was actually done by another branch of the bloody council who have a waste oil recycling plant (to make biofuel) to run council vehicles on. They came in nearly every two weeks to ask ho I disposed of waste oil and checked the box file of waste transfer certificates, despite the fact that there would only be one more than there was the last time he was in.

Also, just before I bought the café, the council told the previous owner to change the flooring in the take-away are to industrial non slip, then told me that the non slip stuff was difficult to clean and should be changed (but not compulsory, luckily) to smooth lino

Councils are generally just

[Eirikur]

Highstreet shops are so last millenium.
Out of town malls are the way to go

[VectraMan]

They repeatedly questioned us where we took our rubbish and why we were not buying rubbish removal services from them. We repeatedly told them (and showed them) we recycled virtually everything. The small amount of stuff we didnt recycle, was stored on site.

I asked at PermieCo if we had cardboard recycling, and was told no because when they'd enquired the council wanted about £1K a year just to provide a brown bin and empty it. I thought councils were meant to be encouraging recycling?

[eek]

Um, most people working for the council earn like £19K.

Yep but those are the people who are also shat upon by the management on £100k+ a year.

If you watch locally you will see that in the current cuts initially the councils sacked a middle management layer. Since then all cuts have been done at lower levels while the senior management have tried to keep themselves and their mates in their well paid jobs....

[d000hg]

Well who gives a **** whether the business makes money or not. What is important is that the council needs to pay the employees 100K plus and massive bonuses year after year. And gold plated pensions. Council is nothing but a job creation vehicle and a old boy club for the same people to circulate around different councils getting massive pay rises each time.

Um, most people working for the council earn like £19K.

[fullyautomatix]

Because councils want to wring the last penny out of businesses and really dont give a ****.

I ran a retail business for 5 years with Mrs Bolshie. We were lucky to get out with the clothes on our back. The local council use every trick in the book to screw you for money.

They repeatedly questioned us where we took our rubbish and why we were not buying rubbish removal services from them. We repeatedly told them (and showed them) we recycled virtually everything. The small amount of stuff we didnt recycle, was stored on site.

They just would not believe you could recycle so much stuff and continually pestered us. Eventually to shut them up and get them off our back, we engaged a certified waste disposal company to come and take away one bin sack of rubbish. It cost us £50 but also provided a certification of waste.

The next time the council came round and demanded to know where our rubbish went I stuffed the certificate under the weasel's nose. I kid not, he spent 10 minutes closely examining the certificate and phoned his office to confirm the company was on the council's approved list of waste companies!

Its no wonder there are so many empty stores.

Well who gives a **** whether the business makes money or not. What is important is that the council needs to pay the employees 100K plus and massive bonuses year after year. And gold plated pensions. Council is nothing but a job creation vehicle and a old boy club for the same people to circulate around different councils getting massive pay rises each time.

[vetran]

Because councils want to wring the last penny out of businesses and really dont give a ****.

I ran a retail business for 5 years with Mrs Bolshie. We were lucky to get out with the clothes on our back. The local council use every trick in the book to screw you for money.

They repeatedly questioned us where we took our rubbish and why we were not buying rubbish removal services from them. We repeatedly told them (and showed them) we recycled virtually everything. The small amount of stuff we didnt recycle, was stored on site.

They just would not believe you could recycle so much stuff and continually pestered us. Eventually to shut them up and get them off our back, we engaged a certified waste disposal company to come and take away one bin sack of rubbish. It cost us £50 but also provided a certification of waste.

The next time the council came round and demanded to know where our rubbish went I stuffed the certificate under the weasel's nose. I kid not, he spent 10 minutes closely examining the certificate and phoned his office to confirm the company was on the council's approved list of waste companies!

Its no wonder there are so many empty stores.

Its like legal aid you will never win they have all the money in the world to mess with your head.