Retailers have warned that prices will have to rise to counter rate increases from next April. With increasing pressure being put on businesses through the Living Wage and import prices creeping up in the post-referendum economy, it is feared that business rate increases could be disastrous for the sector.
Based on the annual rate of inflation as well as the value of commercial property itself, the government pushed back revaluation by two years, meaning that when the changes do come into effect they will be even more harshly felt.
“The retail sector is facing a significant shift in structural dynamics, with most reporting challenging conditions ahead,” the chief executive of property agent CVS Mark Rigby said.
“Add to the mix the already ‘lethal cocktail’ of increased operating costs from the national living wage and apprenticeship levy, and a near half a billion pounds increase in business rates per year for the next five years is simply unsustainable.
“Something will have to give – whether that’s store closures or even higher prices at the till.”
