Demolition brings rate savings for commercial buildings

Article Type: Newsbriefs From: Structural Survey, Volume 27, Issue 3

Keywords: Demolition, Rates, Vacant property

An increasing number of industrial and commercial premises across the South West are likely to be flattened as the recession bites and owners find the cost of rates more difficult to bear. Bristol-based TR Demolition say changes in the rates system have made it more economic for those with empty commercial buildings to demolish than to leave them empty and liable for rates. Sharon Haskell, director at TR Demolition of Bedminster said: “Some people are liable to pay over £200,000 a year in rates now the rules have been changed and with no income coming in from renting a building it is cheaper to demolish. We have seen a rise in this type of work over the last few months, and also in businesses ‘stripping out’ buildings so that just a shell is left. They can then be declared uninhabitable and unusable – and therefore not liable for rates”.