Written question WQ83144
- Asked by
- Luke FletcherPlaid
- To be answered by
- Minister for Finance and Local Government
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 9 days
Question
What steps has the Welsh Government taken to reduce rates exposure on empty units in shopping centres?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Finance and Local Government
The Welsh Government is providing over £620m of relief to ratepayers in Wales in 2021-22. This includes over £35 million of Empty Property Rates Relief.
The Empty Property Rates Relief Scheme supports bringing properties back into use. For most unoccupied properties, no rates are charged for an initial three month period. The relief applies for a six month period where the property is classified as industrial.
We continue to assess the impact of the pandemic on the number of vacant business and other nondomestic premises and the effectiveness of this relief. Planned changes to increase the length of time a property is required to be occupied before being eligible for a further period of Empty Property Rates Relief have been postponed until 1 April 2022 in recognition of the economic impacts of the pandemic.