The UK property industry needs to do a better job in persuading government of its economic contribution to ward off the threat of a tax grab, according to the incoming president of the British Property Federation.
Speaking at a Profile Network / Estates Gazette event on Wednesday, Toby Courtauld said other industries had failed to win the argument and had been hit hard as a result.
“We’re not very good at selling ourselves outside the industry,” said Courtauld, also chief executive of Great Portland Estates. “We’re an easy target for a tax-strapped government. One of the things the BPF needs to be doing is showing how just important this industry is to the UK economy so that we don’t find ourselves being knackered by x,y,z tax a la the oil industry.”
He said the size of the industry was often underestimated: “The commercial real estate industry accounts for 5.9% of GDP. The banking market is only about 5%. Agriculture is only about 1%. We’ve got a massive industry and we’ve got to get better at getting the point across to government in particular that this is not an industry that can take a lot more regulation or tax or should take a lot more regulation or tax.”
Courtauld takes over as BPF president next month and added: “The BPF has got some big challenges in the next few years with a government that has thrown a series of complicated, quite radical proposals that are not particularly well thought through. The BPF’s role has never been in more need.”
damian.wild@estatatesgazette.com
