Financial support will be offered to local businesses facing unprecedented hikes in business rates, under proposals unveiled by Haringey Council.
The council is consulting on a new business rates “Revaluation Support” scheme to help ensure firms can continue to thrive following the government’s national business rates revaluation – which has seen rates leap by up to 42 percent for thousands of Haringey companies.
Shops, pubs, offices, industrial units and even schools have been impacted by the government’s revaluation. The worst hit Haringey firms are facing a 42 percent rise, with hundreds more hit with a 12.5 percent increase and thousands facing rises of five percent.
The government is expected to give Haringey just £2million across the next four years to try to ease the burden, and the council’s consultation gives local businesses and residents the chance to help shape how best to distribute the extra local relief.
The extra funding will come in addition to support already offered by the council, including charitable relief for voluntary and community groups and discounts for businesses occupying new office, workspace and creative studios.
Working with local businesses, the council hopes to design a scheme robust enough to support the local economy and stimulate growth, while being fair to local companies.
Under proposals being consulted on, the council’s Revaluation Support scheme could see:
- A new discretionary relief scheme to allocate funding across local businesses, with the amount of relief given proportionate to the level of increase they face
- An option to give preference to small, medium and independent firms, rather than large national businesses
- An option to prioritise relief on the grounds of public interest
The consultation will last for five weeks, to enable support to be delivered as quickly as possible following businesses receiving 2017/18 business rates bills.
Cllr Joe Goldberg, Haringey Council Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability, said:
“We’re hugely concerned about the impact of the government’s arbitrary ‘one-size fits all’ national revaluation of business rates, which has left thousands of local firms facing eye-watering rates hikes.
“We’re determined that we get the best possible support to the businesses that need it most, which is why we’ll be working closely with local businesses and residents to shape a support scheme that helps local companies and protects our local economy.”
