Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will ensure that commercial landlords are subject to full business rates in the event that the property is unoccupied.
The business rates system ensures that the owners of most empty buildings pay 100% of the business rates bill once the property has been unoccupied for three months (or six months for industrial buildings). But we recognise that avoidance and evasion of business rates on empty properties are important concerns for local government so we are undertaking further detailed work and will consult on measures next year.