Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 24 August 2019 | The Grocer | 11co-head of retail agency at
Colliers International. “Labour
has just picked on one symp-
tom of the overall malaise on
the high streets when in reality
the situation couldn’t be further
from the truth.
“The vast majority of retail
property is owned for invest-
ment purposes and ultimately
landlords are trying to produce
an income.
“ There is no mention of try-
ing to balance the tax burden
between bricks and mortar and
the internet, no mention of the
fact we have a predatory com-
pany in Amazon domiciled in
Luxembourg waiting in the
wings for the high street to fail. ”
Robert Hayton, head of UK
business rates at Altus Group,
says the empty rates legislation
has fuelled the rise of “rates
only” leases, which has left
property landlords facing a
“calculated gamble”.
“Is it more fi nancially ‘palat-
able’ to keep a tenant in place
paying no rent to save a greater
outlay on what can be a sub-
stantial business rates bill?”
One example saw landlords of
about 28 House of Fraser stores
off ered ‘rates only’ deals in a bid
to keep stores open. This would
have seen landlords not receive
rent – but have their business
rates met.
“Nobody likes to see empty
and boarded-up shops and we
strongly support initiatives –
such as business rates reform- to help turn around strug-
gling town centres,” adds Ian
Fletcher, director of fi nance &
Jeremy Corbyn unveiled Labour’s
plan to save the UK’s high streets
from ‘retail Armageddon’ on
Bolton High Street this weekcommercial policy at the British
Property Federation.
“Many landlords are happy
to let out property on a mean-
while basis with little or no rent,
but the sad fact is that in many
places property owners fi nd it
diffi cult to fi nd an occupier even
at zero rent.
“Giving local authorities the
power to reopen those shops
simply shift s the challenge from
the private to the public sector
and raises worrying questions
about what rights property own-
ers would have in such cases.”
Emma Jones, founder of the
charity Enterprise Nation, who
has spent years trying to revi-
talise the high street, including
overseeing the new raft of pop-
ups launched by Amazon, says
Labour’s plan does not focusenough on the huge shift to
internet shopping.
“While we welcome the sen-
timent , we think the Labour
Party should consider very care-
fully the high street and its rela-
tionship with online retailers.
“While technology is ena-
bling more and more people
to operate a successful online
retail business model, the chal-
lenge of how to help them make
the move into high street retail-
ing needs more thought.”
There has been plenty of
thought put in to how to save
the high street in the past dec-
ade, as well as plenty of cash.
Sadly, nobody has yet come up
with a convincing answer and
Corbyn’s latest proposals look
like they are in danger of going
the same way.