Supermarket chain Asda is demolishing a former call centre that it owns in New Barnet, Hertfordshire, to avoid empty property rates.
The group said it had decided to knock down the building – ahead of getting planning consent to redevelop the 6-acre site as a £100m, Asda-anchored scheme – because of a looming rates bill. The group, which will submit plans this month, said it faced a bill of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Jonathan Refoy, head of property communications and planning at Asda, said: “The cost of regeneration has increased considerably with the empty building on this brownfield site. It impacts on the deliverability.
“Just as things have become more difficult economically, the government has imposed an ill-timed tax on empty properties, which has a number of unintended consequences and can only hinder retailers’ ability to regenerate brownfield sites.”
From 1 April, empty property has been liable for full business rates after three to six months of being vacant. Office and shop owners previously had 50% relief, and industrial owners were exempt.
Asda is the latest to join a growing list of property owners demolishing buildings early to escape the tax. Last month, Brixton said it was bringing forward the demolition of 350,000 sq ft of its Northfields Industrial Estate in Park Royal, NW10, while
Peter Cosmetatos, director for investment at the British Property Federation, said: “Any short-term gain for the Exchequer will be wiped out by regeneration projects being shelved, firms being driven out of business and usable buildings being demolished.”
