Business left waiting for rates relief

A £300MILLION business rates relief fund is still not functioning three months after many companies were hit with a sharp rise in their bills.

The Daily Telegraph has learnt that the fund announced by Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, after huge political pressure has yet to benefit companies.

Councils that have been tasked with handing out the money are still deciding who should benefit because they are allowed to decide their own rules.

Experts claimed that not a “single penny” had been passed on to companies despite a promise that the worst affected would get help from the multimillion-pound fund.

Half a million companies began paying higher business rates from the start of April, with some facing increases of up to 50 per cent.

Mr Hammond faced an angry backlash earlier this year over the changes and was prompted to announce a package of relief in his spring Budget.

It included a £300million fund for councils to “deliver discretionary relief to target individual hard cases in their local areas”.

However, it is understood that councils are still deciding who should get the funds and are concerned about setting a precedent. It means firms have already been forced to pay three months of higher rates even though they ultimately may be eligible for financial support.

Experts said companies refusing to pay would be billed for a full year of rates at once instead of monthly instalments. Jerry Schurder, of property consultants Gerald Eve, said: “Seeking some positive headlines, the Government announced the relief without determining how it would operate, before shifting responsibility for administering the sums to local councils.

“The result is a confused, bureaucratic red-tape mess with each local authority scrabbling to decide which local businesses are deserving of support, while the intended beneficiaries flirt with insolvency.” He added: “The delay is creating a great degree of uncertainty for firms of all sizes, and when the discounts do eventually become available, they will have arrived too late for some.”

A spokesman for the Communities Department said: “This is a matter for local authorities. In April we confirmed to councils how much of the discretionary fund they would each receive and they have had over two months to implement schemes to enable businesses to access this support.

“We are expecting councils to have made rapid progress with schemes, and will be following up with any that have not.”

♦ One in four shops on Old and New Bond Streets in London’s West End face closure because of business rates and high rents. Big-name fashion brands are said to be considering leaving the exclusive area, according to The Guardian.