BAN BOX SHIFTING MANIFESTO 2.0
Our New Ban Box Shifting Manifesto
Updated after the new 1 April 2024 changes to legislation.
1. Ban Box Shifting by extending the period of occupation which activates rates exemption from 3 to 6 months, while ensuring rates exemption is only available for 3 months at a time and cannot be claimed more than once in any 12-month rolling period across both retail and industrial properties.
2. Give councils more power in deciding when empty rates relief can legitimately be granted, with an independent watchdog to guide application of anti-avoidance measures.
3. Like Scotland, assess exemptions from empty rates on a case-by-case basis. For listed buildings, to qualify for up to 12 months of empty rates relief, the space must have been tenanted and occupied for the previous 12 months. Apply a one-year upper limit to prevent properties from falling into disrepair.
4. Prevent exploitation of certain forms of rates relief under Schedule 5, Section 43 and 45 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. This includes the abuse of snail farms in non-agricultural spaces, places of worship where access has been prevented, and charities claiming empty rates relief for more than four weeks at the start of a letting.
5. Ensure that newly built commercial spaces are promptly added to the VOA rating list, with business rates becoming payable no later than 3 months after the first occupier takes possession within the block. This could be triggered by the first flat being rented or sold above the ground-floor commercial voids or by the issuance of documentation from the council, indicating the flats are ready for sale or rent.
6. Ensure ethical rates mitigation options are available to commercial properties that have been unoccupied.
PRESS COVERAGE
Making Headlines
Explore the media coverage and recognition we’ve garnered in the short time since our campaign launched. Dive into articles and papers from major news outlets and publications that have spotlighted our campaign.
Background
What is box shifting?
Some landlords take advantage of a loophole in the law to obtain rate relief. They put boxes in an empty commercial space – then say the space is occupied for 13 weeks. The boxes are then removed, and the landlord gets 3 to 6 months’ empty rates relief. When the rates free period was over, they can again place boxes to restart the cycle, hence box shifting. Councils lost over two thirds of their rates income every time this cycle was repeated.
Last year, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced a Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion Consultation to explore the causes of, and potential measures to combat, avoidance, evasion, and poor rating agent behaviour within the business rates system, to protect essential funding for local services.
The outcome, while a footnote in the Councillor’s 2024 Spring Budget, made the following amendment:
From 1 April, landlords will need to wait 13 weeks, rather than 6, to claim empty rates exemption.
This marks a major victory for our campaign’s fight against intermittent occupation, such as through unethical methods like box shifting, as a tool for empty rates avoidance in England, bringing legislation closer to what has happened in Wales, where the required period of occupation to activate rates exemption is 6 months.
The Ban Box Shifting campaign – so far – has been an incredible success. With support from over 100 MPs and councillors, and several motions put forward in councils across England, we have brought box shifting to national and government attention. However, this is only the beginning. Other forms of rates avoidance, such as snail farming, need to be addressed, and to tackle this, we need to push for a one-year time limit on avoidance and properties left in limbo because of insolvent tenants, ensuring councils receive rates revenue and spaces are quickly reactivated.
We must also do more to promote ethical rates mitigation, where genuine charities delivering vital activities can occupy otherwise empty commercial premises and reduce business rates burden by qualifying for, and paying, 20% of the normal empty business rates charge.
IMPACT of the changes
What this means in effect for empty rates mitigation going forward?
Here’s a breakdown by experts in ethical rates mitigation, ASTOP Limited
Watch ASTOP’s summary of the changes and impacts on the empty rates mitigation options in England which are effective from the first of April 2024.
For a video specific to industrial spaces, click here
ACTION
Want to Help Your Council Save Millions of Pounds? You Can!
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Further information
The Welsh Government effectively stopped box shifting in Apr 2022. More information about this in the links below:
ORIGINAL MANIFESTO
Our Original Ban Box Shifting Manifesto
Closing Loopholes & Protecting Communities
Discover a critical issue affecting councils across England in this eye-opening video. Join us as we delve into the urgent necessity of banning Box Shifting and unravel its profound impact on our communities. Uncover the compelling reasons behind this crucial movement and be a part of the solution.
OPEN LETTER
Ban Box Shifting
Dear Government,
We, the undersigned, are writing to express our support for the new charity initiative, Ban Box Shifting, which aims to tackle the issue of business rates avoidance in England and save our councils an estimated £250 million annually. This is an important matter that affects our communities and public services, and we believe it is time to take action.
The practice of box shifting, whereby landlords and multi-chain operators exploit legal loopholes to trigger a three- or six-month rates-free period, is draining vital funds from our local authorities. It is estimated that this tactic costs councils £250 million per year, a sum that could be used to build 2,000 council homes, fund 150,000 hospital beds, or establish 12 new secondary schools.
It is time for England to follow in the footsteps of Scotland and Wales, both of which have already passed legislation to address this issue. We are urging the Government to consider the Ban Box Shifting six-point manifesto:
- Ban Box Shifting by extending the period of occupation which activates rates exemption from six weeks to six months
- Give councils more powers in deciding when empty rates relief can legitimately be granted
- Put a one-year upper limit on avoidance and properties left in limbo because of insolvent tenants
- Remove the snail sham option in non-agricultural space (occupiers sometimes put snail farms or other similar species to claim a space is agricultural land)
- Promote ethical rates mitigation
By extending the occupation period required for rates exemption and granting councils more authority to decide when relief can be provided, we can prevent businesses from exploiting loopholes for financial gain. Furthermore, implementing a one-year time limit on avoidance and removing sham options will provide additional safeguards against fraudulent practices.
We also advocate for the promotion of ethical rates mitigation, which involves offering rent-free spaces to charities. This sustainable solution benefits local communities, landlords, and charities, and is already recognised by some councils’ estates teams as a means to save money and support communities.
We firmly stand behind the Ban Box Shifting initiative and urge the Government to take action in addressing the issue of business rates avoidance. By doing so, we can save our councils millions of pounds, which can then be reinvested in vital public services for the betterment of our communities.
Sincerely,
MPs & Councillors That Have Already Signed
Issy Cooke – (Greenwich) – Labour
Varlene Alexander – (Ealing) – Labour
Anthony Molloy – (Brent) – Labour
Yusuf Mukhtar – (Barking) – Labour
Andree Frieze – (Richmond) – Green
James Beckles – (Newham) – Labour
Carolyn Corben – (Newham) – Labour
Rob Nunney – (Manchester) – Green
Richard Silvester – (Bolton) – Labour
Sian Berry – (Camden) – Green
David Jenkins – (Leeds) – Labour
Paul Wray – (Leeds) – Labour
Kevin Ritchie – (Leeds) – Labour
Chloe Goldsmith – (Brighton) – Green
Alistair Chisholm – (Newcastle) – Labour
Alastair Binnie-Lubbock – (Hackney) – Green
Mark Chatfield – (Rutland) – Lib Dem
Graham Minshaw – (Cumberland) – Labour
Sara Muldowney – (Thurrock) – Labour
Megan Wright – (Bracknell Forest) – Labour
Joe Reilly – (New Forest) – Independent
Mike Stonard – (Norwich) – Labour
Paul Gibson – (Sunderland) – Lib Dem
Ashan Jeeawon – (Rother) – Independent
Minesh Parekh – (Sheffield) – Labour
Tim Wye – (Bristol) – Green
Vera Rider – (Cleveland) – Independent
Jo Bird – (Wirral) – Green
Andy Ketchin – (Exeter) – Green
Michael Carthew – (Solihull) – Lib Dem
Judith Grier – (Wirral) – Green
Tess Read – (Exeter) – Green
Andrew Brown – (Bristol) – Lib Dem
Kerry Pickett – (Brighton) – Green
Ruth George – (Derbyshire) – Labour
Jacob Taylor – (Brighton) – Labour
Tim Smith – (Rutland) – Lib Dem
Lucy Bywater – (Bedfordshire) – Green
Darren Hayday – (Buckinghamshire) – Independent
Mark Howard – (Windsor and Maidenhead) – Lib Dem
Gurch Singh – (Windsor and Maidenhead) – Lib Dem
Louis Stark – Herefordshire Council – Liberal Democrats
Geoff Brodie – (Isle of Wight) – Independent Labour
Graham Baker – (Blackpool) – Conservatives
Graham Chapman – (Nottingham) – Labour
Zoe Garbett – (Hackney and London Mayoral Candidate for the Green Party 2024) – Green Party
Paul Bidwell – (Bracknell Forest) – Labour
Ria Patel – (Croydon) – Green Party
Nick Morphet – (Northumberland) – Green Party
Caritas Charles – (North Somerset) – Independent
Oliver Walters – (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) – Lib Dem
Joe Lever – (Isle of Wight) – Green
Imogen Shepherd – Dubey (Wokingham) – Lib Dem
Charles Adams – (Bassetlaw) – Labour
Tracy Adams – (Devon) – Labour
Carol Whitton – (Devon) – Labour
Janice Johnson – (Rossendale) – Labour
James Lawrence – (Epsom & Ewell) – Lib Dem
Gill Westcott – (Mid-Devon) – Green
Anthony Skuse – (Wokingham) – Labour
Don Birch – (Norfolk) – Lib Dem
Alasdair Bruce – (East Devon) – Independent
Neil Buttle – (Derbyshire Dales) – Green
Simon Lytton – (Cherwell) – Lib Dem
Peter Lamb – (Crawley) – Labour
Karen Lewing – (Worcester) – Green
Mark Chilton – (Chichester) – Lib Dem
Graham Simpkins – (Westmorland & Furness) – Lib Dem
Neil Hughes – (Westmorland & Furness) – Lib Dem
Danny Lee – (Winchester) – Green
Michele Gibson – (Spelthorne) – Lib Dem
Richard Kirkby-Taylor – (Colchester) – Green
Max Wilkinson – (Cheltenham) – Lib Dem
Roger Lees – (South Staffordshire) – Conservative
Ian Middleton – (Oxfordshire) – Green
Alison Owen – (Barbegh) – Labour
Donna Richardson – (Southend) – Labour
Maureen McKay – (East Ayrshire) – Labour
Theresa Burton – (Runnymede) – Lib Dem
John Turley – (Worthing) – Labour
Sue Mallender – (Rushcliffe) – Green
Angela Lawrence – (West Lindsey) – Conservative
Adam Monk – (South Gloucestershire) – Labour
Marina Asvachin – (Devon County Council) – Labour
Maximilian Czekalski – (Woolston) – Labour
Sophie Bell – (Milton Keynes) – Lib Dem
Tony Gould – (Ipswich) – Conservative
Alec Sandiford – (Stafford) – Lib Dem
Cathy Morgan – (Sevenoaks) – Conservative
Frances Victory – (Malvern Hills) – Green
Stephen Thompson – (Maidstone) – Green
Andrew McDermid – (Forest of Dean) – Green
David Moore – (Newark & Sherwood) – Independent
Vikki Slade – (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) – Lib Dem
Sarah Pankhurst – (Independent) – Fareham
Ian James – (East Hampshire) – Green
Ros Jackson – (East Lindsey) – Labour
Nick Cox – (East Hertfordshire) – Green
Total Councillors Signed = 100
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