Official Report search · Parliament Workbench

Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2012

31 Oct 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc) (Scotland) Bill

Wilson, John SNP Central Scotland Watch on SPTV

I come to this debate as a relatively new member of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee. I was not a member of the committee when the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc) (Scotland) Bill was debated at stage 1. That said, it is clear to me that not all property owners have been vigorous in their approach when dealing with long-term empty properties.

The proposal to give local authorities a provision to increase council tax charges on long-term empty properties will have the effect of positively dealing with long-term empty homes. Equally, I know that various agencies, including the national review of town centres, have been involved in the discussion around how best to regenerate town centres.

There was general agreement by the Local Government and Regeneration Committee of the principles as outlined in the legislation, although some clarification of the proposals was desired.

Clearly, some sectors of the business community, such as the Scottish Retail Consortium, are not satisfied with regard to the business rates relief issue. The proposal has been described by some as contentious. With regard to the proposal that businesses will get a 10 per cent discount on unoccupied properties, the actual situation is that business have not shown sufficient incentive while they have received a 50 per cent discount on unoccupied properties.

I know that the minister gave a commitment at stage 2 that confirmed the Government’s intention to introduce future regulations to reform empty property rates relief and create a new incentive for new occupation of long-term empty shops and offices. The fresh start scheme aims to provide business rates relief for a year and encourage new occupants of offices and shops that are lying empty.

At stage 2 of the bill, the Government allayed the concerns that were noted during the stage 1 debate, particularly in relation to the fine for not registering an empty property going up from £200 to £500. I know that that is a matter of discretion for local authorities, but I hope that the minister keeps it under constant review and thinks about whether the revised figure is sufficient, as it is not even a week’s rental income for some owners.

The light-touch regulation that is associated with the landlord registration scheme came in for some criticism from me and others in the previous session of the Parliament. I trust that we can move forward and that the legislation assists in that process.

The intention of getting empty properties back into use is of real merit as, according to Shelter, there are around 23,000 long-term empty houses. The issue is brought home to me when I see people who seek housing looking enviously at an empty property in a village of pressured-area status, wishing that they could call that their home, but that property has been lying empty for a number of years and the owner has no intention of letting it or selling it on.

The issue of regenerating our existing town centres is a tall order, especially when there are out-of-town shopping centres that are geared towards cars, which makes the retail decision for some consumers not exactly a difficult choice. There is a lack of parking spaces in towns throughout certain parts of—

Search Hansard contributions

Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2012

In the same item of business