Mandelson slammed for vacant property comments

Business secretary Lord Peter Mandelson outraged small businesses and trade bodies earlier this week by claiming that tax from empty commercial property's was 'good news for tenants.'

The bombsite Britain tax, named as landlords have demolished property rather than go under from the heavy tax costs, was brought in by Gordon Brown in April last year to raise £1.3bn, the Liverpool Daily Post reported.

Trade bodies and SMEs claimed that Mandelson was 'detached from reality' while other MPs have shown their support by joining the British Property Federations national campaign to stop the empty rates tax.

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: 'It’s worrying that people running the country have such fundamental misunderstandings of how business works. You can’t tax something earning no money and expect that to conjure up tenants when demand is falling through the floor. No one’s asking for handouts, just a reality check. We must stop this empty rates madness.'

Peter Cosmetatos, BPF director for finance and investment, said: 'Nobody could have predicted the credit crunch when the rate relief cut was first set out in the 2007 Budget, but since the cut actually took effect in April we have been in a dire situation that could be made much worse should the industry continue to be unfairly penalised in this way. There is no value in keeping a property empty – particularly in a downturn.'