Communities secretary Eric Pickles has indicated that he won’t reverse the delay in the business rates revaluation, in an interview with Estates Gazette.
He said it had “been clearly laid out in Parliament” that the next revaluation would take place in 2017, adding: “The reason we delayed it is because had we gone ahead there would have been more losers than gainers.
“Hopefully by 2017 we will be in a better state of equilibrium so that the changes won’t be quite as dramatic.”
Senior figures from the property industry had called for the rating revaluation to take place in 2015.
A report released last month from retail veteran Bill Grimsey called for the 2015 business rates revaluation to be reintroduced immediately “to realign property values and freeze business rates from 2014”.
