Property and construction

Nothing much to smile about for property and construction sector

The Pre Budget Report (PBR) has delivered little by way of providing support for the Property & Construction Sector says leading business and financial adviser Grant Thornton.

Despite comments in the PBR that bringing forward planned public spending will help the construction sector, it is hard to see what other positive messages there are in the rest of the announcements made today.

The industry had been clamouring for the Government to change the legislation on the business rates for empty property - the response has been a temporary increase in the threshold at which an empty property becomes liable for business rates. For 2009-10, empty properties with a rateable value of less than £15,000 will be exempt from business rates.