Bristol property industry figures gave the thumbs up to many of the measures in the Budget but said they did not go far enough.
Jeremy Richards, head of JLL’s office, said: “The headline act for the West of England in today’s Budget was the announcement of a new mayoral authority which will lever £900m of investment. As ever with these things, the devil is in the detail but broadly any move which encourages greater joined-up thinking among the local authorities is a positive step for our region. 
“The investment of £14.5m in extending broadband coverage in the South West will be welcomed by businesses, and is particularly good news for Bristol and Bath’s thriving digital technology sector. The Government has said that it wants our region to be a world leader in 5G and this will be crucial in attracting international companies to the South West.
“The Government has made an encouraging first step towards exploring the possibility of a new junction, 18a, on the M4 that would link with the Avon Ring Road, near the Bristol & Bath Science Park. But past experience shows that, even if this study finds there is a need for a new junction, it will be a long time before it comes to fruition.”
Jeremy, pictured right, welcomed the commercial Stamp Duty changes but would have liked the Chancellor to have taken the reforms a step further.
“In reality, the vast majority of smaller properties affected by the Stamp Duty change are leasehold, rather than freehold, so the material impact of this change may be minimal,” he said.
However, the increase of the small business rate relief threshold would be met with delight by businesses, especially in smaller, more rural areas which have a greater concentration of small businesses.
But the continued shift towards the devolution of business rates revenue to local authorities could be something of a poisoned chalice.
“While it’s good that the local authorities will have control over this revenue, the reduction in business rates could result in councils facing a funding shortfall for public services,” he said.
Steve Plowman, Bristol rating director at Colliers International, said while on the face of it small businesses should see a significant reduction in their business rates liability, they would not know if they were better off until rateable values are published in September in advance of next year’s revaluation.
“It is too early to say whether the move to CPI (from RPI) and changes to Small Business Rates Relief are going to offer the actual reductions that George Osborne claims,” he said, adding that the changes were a move in the right direction but no substitute for genuine reform of a system that was currently not working.
Keith Cooney, national head of business rates at Knight Frank, said the increase in business rates relief was welcome but did not go nearly far enough.
“Business rates generate £28bn per year, and a saving of £1.5bn does not significantly ease the burden. There is a still a very real risk that our business rates system undermines the UK’s competitiveness within Europe,” he said.
“In the long term fundamental reform is needed, as part of a wider overhaul of the UK’s tax system. In the meantime, the changes to the administration of business rates, namely the re-basing of the rates to the CPI and the proposal to look at the introduction of three year Revaluations, does at least show the Government recognises there is a problem.”
