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Record Ref : FOI 8183
Date Received : 14/09/2020
Date Completed : 08/10/2020
Organisation : PA media group
Application Type : Media
Category : Covid-19
Question
Please disclose under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 your local authority’s complete and most-recently updated list of all business (non-residential) property rates data including: • Firm’s trading name • Full property address • Occupation and vacancy status • Date of occupation or vacancy Can you also please disclose: • The number of vacant commercial properties each financial year from 2015-16 to 2019-20; • The number of vacant commercial properties from April 1 2020 to September 11 2020. Can you please also break down the totals by the commercial property use class they fall under – A1 shops, A2 financial and professional services, A3 food and drink etc
Answer
My response to the first four bullet points is as follows: • Provided on the attached document. We may not have the trading name but we have the name of the Liable Party for business rates; if this is a sole trader I cannot disclose it and it has been redacted; • Provided on the attached document; • Provided on the attached document; • I cannot provide a specific date of occupation or vacancy. However, I have provided on the attached document the ate that the liability started and, where applicable, the date that an exemption for an empty property started for that account or the date that Empty Property Rates commenced. Empty Property Rates apply once an industrial property has been vacant for six months or a non-industrial property has been vacant for three months (unless otherwise exempt); • Vacant commercial property totals can only be provided for certain specific dates. I have used here the dates of annual billing. 2015/2016 (11-03-2015) =238. 2016/2017 (09-03-2016) =241. 2017/2018 (10-03-2017)=214. 2018/2019 (15-03-2018)=237. 2019/20 (08-03-2019) = 235.; • 07-03-2020 (annual billing and closest to 01-04-2020 available) = 232; 14-09-2020 (closest to 11-09-2020 available)=231. • The classes of A1, A2, A3 etc. are used for planning purposes only and therefore do not exist on the business rates records.