At last there is some good news for the high street, as the Government announced a new relief scheme for retail properties with a rateable value below £51,000. Under the scheme, eligible ratepayers will receive a one third discount off their daily chargeable amount. The relief will come into effect for 2019-20 and 2020-21. State aid rules will apply to the retail relief in the normal way. It is anticipated that relief will be automatically awarded to businesses.

Therefore retail businesses should now receive a 33% discount in rates payable from 1st April 2019. This measure introduced by the Government should help reduce costs for retail tenants in a difficult retail market.

Whilst the above is a positive step, we at Fisher German hope the Government will introduce further measures to assist the high street.

One idea we believe should be introduced to drive footfall back to the high street, would be to review the current VAT rate. A reduced VAT rate for goods bought in physical shop premises, rather than online, would be a positive step to bring business back to the high street.

Contact one of our commercial team on 01565 757970

Stop! Before you head out and purchase any new machinery take a moment to check whether you may be eligible for a share of the £15 million available in The Countryside Productivity Small Grants Scheme (Round 2) which is now open.

The RDPE Countryside Productivity Small Grant (CPSG) scheme provides funding for farmers to purchase equipment to improve the productivity of their farm. The scheme is different to other parts of the Countryside Productivity scheme as it uses an online application process and is targeted at supporting investment for specific pieces of agricultural equipment with grants available for a minimum of £3,000, up to a maximum of £12,000!

Items available have been identified following consultation with industry groups and suppliers as helping achieve improvements in either: technical efficiency, animal health and welfare, resource efficiency or nutrient management and are eligible for all farm types including livestock, horticulture and arable businesses.

A brief summary of the application requirements is as follows,

• You must ensure you are registered in the Rural Payment service and your business details are up to date.
• Eligible equipment must meet the minimum specifications shown in Annex 3 of the CPSG
• The standard cost for each item listed in Annex 3 of the CPSG is the actual fixed price which the RDPE will pay towards. For example, if the standard cost is £7,500, even if the actual amount you pay is only £7,000, you will receive 40% of £7,500 (or 50% if you are located in Cornwall).
• The price is based on new items only. Ex-display, ex-demo, second hand, part exchange, ‘try before you buy’ items are not eligible for this scheme.
• There is no need for you to provide quotes for any item.
• You must buy all the items applied for within the 150 days of the Grant Funding Agreement being offered and the items you purchase
• The standard cost is net of VAT. There is no option to claim extra VAT if you are not eligible to reclaim it.
• You can buy an item that exceeds the specification, but you will only receive a grant based on the standard cost.
• If the piece of equipment meets the specification of more than one item, you can only apply for grant on one of the items, for that piece of equipment.
• You must have a Single Business Identifier (SBI) number and Customer Reference Number (CRN).
• You need to be aware that if your application is approved, you must have sufficient funds to pay for the items upfront before you get your grant payment.

Further information and applications are available via the online portal on the Countryside Productivity page on GOV.UK which will be live between 9^th July 2019 and midday 3^rd  September 2019.if you need help with your application or would like advice on any agricultural matter then please contact your nearest Fisher German regional office.

Chester      01244 409660

Knutsford   01565 757970

Stafford     01785 220044  

email robert.browne@fishergerman.co.uk

email stephen.buckingham@fishergerman.co.uk

LANDLORDS MUST ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH ENERGY REGULATIONS OR RISK BEING FINED

Residential landlords seeking to continue to rent properties on existing tenancies must ensure their rental properties meet the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) from the 1^st April 2020. It has been a requirement from the 1^st April 2018 for all new tenancies on residential properties to meet the MEES, however from 2020 this will encompass all existing tenancies as well.  

The MEES requires that residential properties must hold an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) with a rating of an E or above. Failure to comply with the regulations by renting a property that is in breach of the regulations carries substantial financial penalties.

To achieve an E rating or above can be very difficult and expensive, especially when the subject property is old and not built to modern standards. Common improvements made by landlords to improve energy efficiency are new condensing boilers and double glazing for example.

However, what is the course of action when you have spent thousands of pounds trying to reach the magical E rating, only to find that the property is still sub-par? Do you have to  keep throwing more money at the property? No. Thankfully, there are a number of exemptions that can be applied for which allow properties below an E rating to continue to be legally let.

There are 7 exemptions covering a range of scenarios. Some of the exemptions, if proven, can mean that you don’t have to spend anything, however they are less commonly used as meeting their requirements can be difficult.

The exemption that I have used most often and found most useful is the ‘All Improvements Made’ exemption. Firstly, under this exemption, if you can show that you have carried out all the available energy improvements to the property that can be made, you will satisfy the exemption. Or secondly under this exemption if you can show that you have spent £3,500 (inc VAT) on energy improvements to the property and still not reached an E rating the exemption can also be secured.

To register the exemption, you must log on to the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Exemptions Register. Once registered you input the properties address details and are required to upload a copy of the EPC and supporting evidence such as invoices that prove at least £3,500 worth of energy improvements have been made.

Once completed you get the exemption straight away as it is a self-certification register. The exemption will last for 5 years, but once it has expired landlords must try again to improve the energy performance of the property or seek a further exemption.

Should you require any assistance or advice on ensuring your rental properties are compliant.

please contact  matthew.burton@fishergerman.co.uk or 01565 757970.

Change is never far away in the world of planning, and by far the biggest issue is always housing. The Government set itself an ambitious target to deliver 300,000 new homes a year, and despite increases in delivery in recent years there is still some way to go. There has been a myriad of policy changes and new initiatives to meet the Government’s stated ambition to significantly boost the supply of new housing, and councils are required to provide action plans if their delivery falls short of the ‘housing delivery test’. Over 100 councils were required to provide action plans in the 2018 published test results, and we expect to see these being released in late August. As there is very little guidance as to what they should actually contain, it remains to be seen how useful they prove in the battle to deliver more housing.

We have seen ‘permitted development’ right changes to convert rural buildings to dwellings (apart from in Wales) but there is inconsistency across councils as to whether modern barns are even convertible or not. There have been significant battles over Green Belt release to meet high housing targets, with significant delays in some councils caused by political battles. Wirral’s current Development Plan expired in 2001, yet there are still disagreements over a new Local Plan. Delays in the delivery of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework have led to delays in the constituent authorities own Local Plans, with knock-on effects in terms of housing delivery.

Against this backdrop, the Government have recently announced it will review planning and a Green Paper is expected later this year, which no doubt will propose yet more changes and reforms to further boost the supply of housing.

All this means is that there is significant opportunity in every council. Local Plan preparation is very much like painting the Forth Bridge, and national policy requires review of adopted plans every 5 years at least. The onus is also now placed squarely on councils to justify their housing land supply, and there are numerous appeal decisions where councils have been found to have significantly over-egged their housing land supply figures.

Developing new housing in the countryside has always been a difficult area, but we are seeing appeal decisions take a very liberal view of locational sustainability. We have seen decisions where a failure to have an adequate housing land supply has been an important factor in granting schemes in the Green Belt. So long as a site is well connected and reasonably accessible by means other than the car, and there is no particular environmental reason why a site cannot be developed, then it is worth a look.

Another development recently has been older persons’ housing. The Government have recently amended planning guidance to place much greater emphasis on the needs of older people. Councils are required to plan for and monitor provision, and many councils fall very short of the new requirements. What this means is that there is a very good opportunity to promote care developments on land where even a normal housing scheme may struggle – if local need can be evidenced, then even Green Belt sites can come into play. We have seen appeal decisions across the country, including by Chester, for Green Belt care developments where there is an identified local need and shortfall in provision. Inspectors are placing great weight on these factors.

Self-build is another area where many councils fall short, and we have seen appeal decisions where a failure to meet with local self-build housing need has swung the balance in favour of development.

In summary, planning has certainly been in a permanent process of change in recent years and this will continue for the foreseeable future. This will certainly open up significant opportunity for development, even on sits where there may have been a struggle in the past. Contact  nial.casselden@fishergerman.co.uk and nia.borsey@fishergerman.co.uk  

We will be more than happy to give advice as to the planning potential and the right strategy for achieving permission.