argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Edmund Francis Hughes (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the difficulties that I had when I first came to the House was recalibrating with regard to the intellectual ability of those with whom I spend time. My hon. Friend was, I believe, a policy adviser at No. 10, and he appears to know everything. I defer entirely to his encyclopaedic knowledge of housing issues, and I agree entirely with his point. When I sit in meetings, I have found that because so many people are focused on housing problems in London and the south-east, they sometimes fail to see that there could be any empty properties outside London. To be honest, I am not entirely sure they care about the rest of the country. It is a pleasure to be joined in the new 2017 intake by somebody with the gifts and abilities of my hon. Friend. As I say, he made a very important point.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Andrew Hanson Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I am greatly enjoying my hon. Friend’s speech. I can confirm that in my area we are struggling with properties that are empty. It causes a problem all over our country. One of the most positive aspects of this Bill is that a consequence of bringing properties back into use would be less pressure on developing our open spaces. People in Harrogate and Knaresborough are perfectly comfortable with the idea that we need to build more properties, but they are also concerned about the loss of open space. Having higher-density use of existing property goes some way towards protecting the green spaces that we all seek to protect.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Edmund Francis Hughes (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very valid point Let me borrow a slightly amended phrase from Shelter, which said, "The housing crisis isn’t about homes—it’s about people." I agree with that principle completely. When people see that there is an increase in demand for property and know that properties in their neighbourhood have been left vacant for a long time, they are probably scratching their heads and thinking, "This Government are so progressive and so able in so many areas—why are they not tackling this issue?" Well, today they are.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Scott Leslie Mann (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend talks about the individual. The property of an individual who fell on hard times might become run-down because they had run out of money. Does he think that at a later stage the Government might consider investing money to bring back into use vacant properties that have fallen into disrepair?
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Edmund Francis Hughes (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend has suggested an innovative solution to some elements of the housing crisis. However, we should bear it in mind that there is flexibility with regard to the application of the enhanced rate. Whereas councils can currently apply a premium of 50%, clause 2, which amends section 11 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, introduces the flexibility for them to apply a premium of between 50% and 100%. That flexibility with regard to the interpretation and application of this law will allow some scope to cover the sorts of cases that he mentioned.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend agree that it also offers councils the flexibility not to charge any premium at all? Because this is done on a case-by-case basis, if there is a particular circumstance where somebody has fallen on hard times, is struggling to renovate their property and has just cause to vacate it, the council can assess that. That is why it is so important that local councils can make these decisions and that this Government are supporting localism.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Other
Edmund Francis Hughes (Conservative, Centre-right): That is the brilliance of the drafting of this Bill. Clearly, whoever was associated with that in any way, shape or form was insightful, intuitive and gifted. I am hoping that the Minister was involved in some way with the drafting of the Bill and will remember the praise that I have heaped on the people who were involved.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): While I share the passion of everyone in this House who is keen to see empty properties brought back into use, does my hon. Friend agree that this measure, which is effectively a tax and incentives-based measure, takes the right approach, as opposed to a more dirigiste one? Although the empty homes development orders brought in by the Labour Government were a good thing, they led to only about 40 homes in England being taken into possession. Does he agree that we need a tax and incentives-based approach rather than trying to take people’s property off them?
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Other
Edmund Francis Hughes (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not sure whether you noticed, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I think that my hon. Friend might have tried to sneak in a French word, or possibly a Latin one, just to prove how clever he is and to completely wrong-foot me. But I am having none of it: I am going to ignore that part and just agree with the point that he made. Clearly, whatever legislation we introduce, it is important that it is efficacious. I think we heard that word earlier; it is not one I use frequently.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Other
Edmund Francis Hughes (Conservative, Centre-right): See, Madam Deputy Speaker, I told you—I have had to totally recalibrate with regard to the intellectual approach of other Members. We certainly do not use much Latin around the table in my house. It may not have been Latin; who knows? It is probably important that I return to the Bill.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Trudy Lynne Harrison (Conservative, Centre-right): May I draw my hon. Friend’s attention to the need to deal with empty homes in rural areas? I refer particularly to my constituency, of which two thirds is in the Lake District national park. Empty homes are a blight on our society. They have a negative impact on rural schools and businesses, which is why it is so important to see empty homes being put to good use and filled with people in rural villages.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Edmund Francis Hughes (Conservative, Centre-right): It is fascinating how much we can learn in this Chamber. I have been walking in my hon. Friend’s constituency and have often thought how beautiful the properties and the scenery are. I cannot imagine that anybody would want to leave a property there vacant for any period, let alone an extended period of more than two years, such that it would cause elements of the Bill to be triggered. When we come to the Chamber, we get the opportunity to hear from Members representing constituencies across the country, and that is what makes this institution so great I can obviously only speak on behalf of and with regard to the good people of Walsall North, Willenhall and Bloxwich, so it is great to hear stories from around the country. The point is that if people are prepared to leave properties vacant in beautiful constituencies such as my hon. Friend’s, this is clearly a problem that the Government need to tackle, and I believe the Bill goes a long way to tackling it.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I am delighted to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall North (Eddie Hughes), who gave an informed and energised speech. I cannot elaborate enough on how much we all enjoyed it. I reiterate his point about St George’s day and congratulate the royal family on the birth of another child I welcome the opportunity to speak about the Bill, which is pro-business and therefore will support job creation and which seeks to help to increase our housing stock. Those are two issues that my constituents regularly raise with me in my surgeries and when I am at events The staircase tax has been the top issue raised with me by a number of local businesses, including at events I have attended, such as at Corsham chamber of commerce, local Inspire events and other networking events around the constituency. I am delighted that the Bill seeks to rectify the bizarre situation that we have found ourselves in. Although we must not criticise the Supreme Court, I welcome the Government’s initiative to right a wrong today and to honour the commitment made in the autumn Budget. The Bill will mean that all ratepayers who lost small business rate relief directly as a result of the judgment will have their relief reinstated to their bills retrospectively As we all know, the staircase tax means that business rates in England and Wales are being set depending on how many rooms are being used and how they are linked. That really is arbitrary. Companies with offices linked by a communal lift, corridors or stairs are being charged. In fact, some of those businesses would have been eligible for 100% rate relief were the case different. That has led to an increase in bills, which concerns a number of businesses. Some have faced charges being backdated to 2010. If you owned your own business, Madam Deputy Speaker, can you imagine the shock and the horror of getting a massive bill that you had not budgeted or planned for and that could stifle your small business? That is what has happened in businesses in my constituency and up and down the country.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): While talking with the Market Harborough chamber of commerce just last Friday, I met a business owner in my constituency who runs a small fishmonger and has a whole set of offices connected by a staircase in a tall building in the most expensive part of the town. Were this ruling to have affected her, she would have been completely clobbered. In fact, even in the current business rates environment, because it is a rather archaic tax, she is already paying a lot, and without measures such as this, she could have been paying an awful lot more.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for his very valid point and I completely agree. We all have sympathy with the case he outlines and have heard many similar examples throughout our constituencies. This is not just about existing businesses; it is also about people who are looking to get into business—the entrepreneurs and business owners of tomorrow, who will look at this tax and think the risk is too high.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Scott Leslie Mann (Conservative, Centre-right): I appreciate that my hon. Friend represents a rural constituency similar to mine that is made up of small businesses, which are the lifeblood of our rural constituencies. She is laying out a futuristic vision of businesses cobbling together under the same roof. If this part of the Bill were not implemented, all those businesses would be charged retrospectively under a different format. The Bill is supporting our rural economy.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree. It is true that the Bill will particularly help new models of business. It is also important that the Bill will have retrospective effect. Businesses that have been affected can have the amount owed to them recalculated and backdated.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alan Mak (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my hon. Friend join me in welcoming the Valuation Office Agency’s commitment to prioritise and fast-track reviews and recalculations, particularly for small businesses, if the Bill is passed, as I hope it will be? Will she also join me in urging the Minister to ensure that that happens, to help our small businesses across the country, including in my constituency?
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes. I completely agree. The point was made earlier that it is so important for these businesses to get back the money they are owed as soon as possible, so that they can continue to flourish. These changes will also reinstate small business rate relief for ratepayers who no longer met the conditions for the relief as a direct result of the VOA’s change in practice, and they can apply for that themselves. What will be really important in how successful the Bill proves to be is how much we spread the message out to the local business community about their option to ask for a recalculation and get this money back.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Mary Josephine Robinson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is making such an important point, and it goes to the heart of what these small businesses are doing in our high streets and district centres. We want to support high street shops, which face such tough competition at the moment, and do anything we can do to help them, give them the reassurance they need and enable them to keep more of their hard-earned cash, because we know that, without those shops being successful, we will not have the bubbling and vivacious high streets that we need.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree. My constituency has four market towns and our high streets have suffered. The Bill sends a message out to local high street business owners and all small businesses that this Government are behind them, supporting them, and recognise that they are the backbone of our economy.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend agree that this is a good example of the Government addressing some of the most egregious problems with the business rates system, and that it is a further improvement following the revaluation, which has seen 5% cuts in the business rate bills of shops in the east midlands?
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree. As I said before, the Bill is righting a few wrongs Last Friday in my constituency, I met the regional director for the south-west of the Federation of Small Businesses, who estimates that, while the staircase tax has affected around 30,000 businesses, it has actually impacted around 80,000 properties. Sometimes we think too much about the number of businesses and do not think about the number of properties affected. These properties and businesses have been unfairly and illogically punished for sharing facilities such as communal staircases, corridors or even car parking with another business. In fact, Mike Cherry, the chairman of the FSB, said last September that some small business owners were knocking holes in their walls or trying to put staircases on the outside of their premises to try to get around these rules. That is a bizarre and ludicrous situation that we cannot tolerate any longer, so I am delighted that the Bill will rectify it and that we are sorting out a sensible solution.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Andrew Hanson Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend has made some valuable points about how the Bill will improve the business environment for entrepreneurs. She particularly highlighted start-up businesses. Does she agree that a group that will benefit is those who are seeking to scale up their businesses through extra space to cope with their expansion and business growth? They will now be more energised and empowered to seek that extra space and grow their businesses.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree. The Bill is also about providing more business confidence and more confidence for entrepreneurs who want to grow their business and develop it, rather than the opposite. It is important to reiterate that small business is the lifeblood of our economy.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): Harborough is a place of small businesses and does not have one dominant employer. There is a lot of demand for large buildings which are broken up into much smaller office spaces. Does my hon. Friend agree that that would be much more difficult if we did not address the problems with the staircase tax that we are addressing and the absurdities that she has pointed out?
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree and I thank my hon. Friend for another interesting and to-the-point intervention My constituency, as I have said, has four market towns—Chippenham, Corsham, Melksham and Bradford on Avon—and the staircase tax has affected each one of them, as well as our villages. It has impacted on high streets. It is important to remember that there are office spaces above shops and that members of staff go out for lunch in the high street. If they are impacted, there are job losses and if there is no extra recruitment round, those people will not be out for their lunch in the high street. The tax has also affected some of our shops. Our high streets are suffering up and down the country, so we should do everything we possibly can to promote and support them to avoid having dormitory towns.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
James Roger Cartlidge (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is making a very good speech. I share her concern on that point. I think Members on both sides of the House are worried about the future of retail in the high street. The key point is that, on every aspect where such taxes are unfair—business rates in many ways are arbitrary and levied on companies without necessarily a reference to their profitability—we have to show that we are listening and making the system fairer.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree and this is one example showing that the Government are listening and that there is a dialogue with businesses and business groups, which have been instrumental in discussing with the Government the formulation of the Bill. That is essential and we need to foster business confidence, especially with Brexit. Only the other week, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury pointed out that we have the highest internet penetration of the retail market in Europe, so this is a particular problem for the UK.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Trudy Lynne Harrison (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend agree that this will be of particular interest and help to start-up businesses? They often initially occupy a small part of a building as an embryonic enterprise, but as they grow the measure will support them too?
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): That is an excellent point, which has been a bit neglected in this debate. Start-ups and microbusinesses will benefit in particular from the Bill Clause 2 is another measure the Government are implementing to right a wrong. It is about helping to increase our housing stock. As we all know, we have a severe housing shortage in this country, yet thousands of homes are left empty, which is ludicrous. The Bill will give local authorities the power to charge a 100% council tax premium on empty properties, rather than just the existing 50%. The charge is for homes that have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for two years or more. The number of homes that have been vacant for over six months in Chippenham has fallen by 12% since 2010, so one might ask whether the measure is necessary. It is, because we still have 1.16 million households on the social housing list and there is a housing problem, so it is important that we take measures such as this today. Further increasing the premium will, I strongly believe, incentivise owners to sell or rent their properties. I strongly believe that I also stress that this is only one action. We must not be under any illusion that the Bill will, in any circumstances, fix our broken housing market—it will not—but the solution has multiple parts and this is one of those answers and one of the measures that the Government are taking.
Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-23
Topic: Housing
Alan Mak (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for giving way—she is being very generous. Some of the funds raised by the premium could be used to reduce the council tax imposed on hard-pressed council tax payers, or could be invested in new social housing to help people who do not have a home. Does she agree that those are just two ways that the funds raised could be used to help to correct imbalances in our housing market, both in the south-east, where I am from, and in the midlands, where she is from?