Andrew Granger, managing partner of property and planning experts Andrew Granger & Co, who employ 50 people, comments ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement this morning.
In the residential market, we are already seeing a slow down as buyers and sellers hedge their bets ahead of the General Election in May so it would be useful to see measures in this statement that keep the property sector buoyant. That is especially true for developers and in the commercial market where the sector has only recently emerged from one of the worst recessions on record.
Even with recent bad news about the deficit, it would seem unlikely that the Chancellor will increase taxes, but if he did increase income taxes or VAT, it would clearly have an effect on consumer confidence and the housing market with many families yet to feel the effects of an improving economy.
If, as predicted, the higher rate threshold increases to 50,000, some people will feel able to afford larger mortgages so we would welcome that. We also support the idea of raising the inheritance tax threshold to take account of rapidly rising property values.
In the commercial sector, we would welcome support for small to medium firms facing high business rates, and this is one way we could encourage more businesses to literally set up shop and bring back some much-needed life to the country’s many ailing high streets.
Successful, growing companies are the lifeblood of the commercial property sector so we would welcome any moves to boost tax relief for businesses as well as incentives for innovation, research and development.
The government says it wants to make the UK the best place to run a business, which if achieved, would translate into a commercial property boom that would generate billions in investment and thousands of jobs. So, alongside moves to ensure that UK-based corporations pay their taxes in full, there is a strong case for reducing corporation tax.
Read what other business owners think on Startups.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment