Bath MP Ben Howlett has written to the Chancellor Philip Hammond to ask if the city’s independent retailers can be given the same small business rateable value threshold as their London counterparts.
In a widely publicised letter last week to all Conservative MPs from the Ministers responsible for business rates, Sajid Javid and David Gauke, it was detailed that Bath businesses on average would see a welcome 3.7% drop in their business rates.
However, behind this headline is the concern that many small independent shops in Bath, which are so vital to the city’s unique charm, have rateable values above the £20,000 small business threshold, which would limit their rate rises to 5%.
In London, the lower threshold is set at £28,000 despite Bath property prices being comparable to retail unit prices in the capital.
Businesses with a rateable value between £20,000 and £100,000 stand to see their business rates rise by up to 12.5% in the first year, with further increases in subsequent years.
Bath MP Ben Howlett has written to the Chancellor to ask that Bath small business rateable values are set to the same threshold as London at £28,000.
Ben said: “I have written to the Chancellor and urged him to look at Bath as a special case in next month’s budget.
“I am an enormous supporter of the independent shops here in our city and recognise how vital their unique contribution is to our local economy.
“Bath is unique in its mix of cultural heritage and small, diverse, independent retailers and I want to see these small businesses thrive – hence my own Ben’s Best of Bath Business Awards to recognise the outstanding contribution these small businesses make.
“I am concerned by the increasingly London-centric nature of economic policy, as London is not the only part of the country where property prices have risen extortionately in recent years.
“Why should small businesses in Bath be penalised for their part in a thriving economy when their counterparts in London receive significant additional support through a different small business rateable value threshold?
“I am also concerned that the 3.7% reduction stated in the letter to MPs from Ministers hides many other assumptions that mean our small, independent businesses in Bath will take a greater proportion of the business rate rises, than their wealthier, multiple competitors.”
