‘Speed up rate relief’

Property specialists have called on Chancellor George Osborne to do more to relieve the burden of rate charges on empty property.

Richard Wackett, national head of rating at Lambert Smith Hampton, says the Chancellor should do more to speed up relief and extend the categories of property it applies to.

The Government is planning to exempt property built in the three years from October 2013 from empty property rates for 18 months.

Mr Wackett says the exemption needs to be brought in at an earlier date to give the economy a much needed boost and expanded to apply to older properties.

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