Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2017 to Question 900568, what support is available to businesses that have had their property incorrectly valued by the Valuation Office Agency.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Where the valuation of a non-domestic property is altered following a successful appeal, the ratepayer will generally receive a backdated refund. Local authorities also have wide-ranging powers to provide discretionary rate relief to businesses in their area, including where a business is experiencing significant financial hardship. From April 2017, the Government introduced reforms to the appeals system to help reduce the delays caused by large numbers of speculative appeals.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2017 to Question 900568, what compensation is available for businesses that win at appeal but have suffered losses between the original valuation and appeal.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Where the valuation of a non-domestic property is altered following a successful appeal, the ratepayer will generally receive a backdated refund. Local authorities also have wide-ranging powers to provide discretionary rate relief to businesses in their area, including where a business is experiencing significant financial hardship. From April 2017, the Government introduced reforms to the appeals system to help reduce the delays caused by large numbers of speculative appeals.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the revaluation of business rates on businesses in Hackney.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The effect of the revaluation of business rates on businesses in Hackney will depend on the specific circumstances and location of the relevant property.
We announced further measures to support businesses in last week's Budget.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department used to decide where the Right to Buy information booklet was distributed.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Right to Buy campaign aims to ensure that eligible social housing tenants are aware of the increased discounts available through the Right to Buy scheme.
The Direct Marketing activity sets out to raise awareness of the scheme and eligibility as Right to Buy can only be exercised by eligible tenants if they have sufficient information about their Right to Buy.
Direct marketing has been the most cost effective way to reach eligible council and housing association tenants.
Our targeting approach is based on a combination of social housing stock and penetration levels - we target higher stockholding areas to ensure reach and value for money across England.