Finance Minister backs increasing rates liability for vacant non-domestic properties

MANY owners of vacant non-domestic properties could soon face an increase in their rates liability, the finance minister has said.

Caoimhe Archibald told the Assembly she is “attracted to the option” and had already told her executive colleagues it is an area she wants to look at in terms of her strategic policy direction.

The comments were made during an Assembly debate on an SDLP motion centred on the derelict Tribeca Belfast site.

As well as calling for the introduction of a vacant land tax, the motion called on the finance minister to work with Land and Property Services (LPS) to conduct a full review of rates due across the Tribeca Belfast site.

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It followed a revelation in the Irish News in October that no rates are being paid on 20 assets within the Tribeca scheme, eight years after Castlebrooke initially acquired a raft of buildings on the city centre, which extends from the edges of Royal Avenue to St Anne’s Cathedral, with the promise to spend £500 million.

Landlords currently only pay 50% of the normal amount for a non-domestic property, and in some cases are exempt if buildings are used by charitable organisations.

Speaking after introducing the Tribeca motion, SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said: “Questions I have asked of LPS have highlighted a shocking level of rates that have been forgone, or given, to the owners of the property by a relief which should not have been due, so we have lost millions of pounds in rates revenue.”

Responding to the motion, Caoimhe Archibald said her department had already completed a consultation around revenue raising, which had looked at increasing the liability level of vacant non-domestic property.

She said more than 70% of respondents to the consultation had expressed concerns, particularly around office and retail assets impacted by wider market changes.

“We need to ensure that in increasing the liability, we do not simply increase dereliction that often accompany higher tax levels in other jurisdictions,” said the minister.

“Despite of this, I am attracted to the option of increasing liability in this area in a managed and co-ordinated way, and have already outlined to the executive that this is an area that I want to look at in terms of my strategic policy direction.”

The motion was carried in the Assembly on Monday evening after a majority of MLAs present rejected a DUP amendment seeking to broaden its scope to look at dereliction outside Belfast city centre.

Although it did not feature in the motion, the SDLP has raised the prospect of creating a Laganside-style development corporation to spearhead the regeneration of the Tribeca site using unspent Stormont lending, known as Financial Transactions Capital.

Ms Archibald said FTC can only be deployed by the public sector as a loan or equity investment in a private sector entity, such as the CBRE-managed NI Investment Fund, which has backed a number of Belfast projects, including hotels and student accommodation.

“I like the rest of the executive am eager to regeneration in the area, not least due to the anticipated increase in rates revenue.”

The finance minister ultimately told MLAs that adopting a Laganside approach would involve a number of Stormont departments, but said responsibility for the vesting properties would be a matter for Belfast City Council and the Department for Communities.

“But it would no doubt be a difficult matter of cross-cutting legal complexity,” she added.