Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what research his Department has commissioned into the (a) effects on businesses of the judgment in the Mazars v Woolway case and (b) options which exist to prevent such negative effects.

The Government is aware of the change in the Valuation Office Agency’s approach to assessing units within buildings of multiple occupation, which follows the Supreme Court judgement in the Mazars v Woolway case. The Government is considering the implications of this judgement. Following Budget 2016, the Government announced a wide-ranging package of measures to support rate payers, that will be worth £9 billion over the next five years.