Schedule 19 - Capital allowances: conversion of parts of business premises into flats
Finance Bill
6:00 pm
Mr Michael Jack (Fylde, Conservative)
``It sounds as if'' is a good description. If the Government are trying to encourage the development of properties in the high street, the provisions contain an enormous amount of unnecessary detail.
I was helpfully referred by the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Mr. Roy) to the reference to
``any closet, cloakroom or hallway not exceeding 5 square metres'',
but it may be physically impossible for a building that is adequate for regeneration to meet that specific criterion. Why has that figure been adopted? It is another example of unnecessary detail, which will inhibit the work that is required under the proposal.
Why is there no provision in the schedule for allowances to be transferred to subsequent purchasers, by reference either to the price that is paid or to the unrelieved residue of the vendor's expenditure? That is an important technical point but has not been dealt with. Finally, I note that new section 393E(6) says that the tables of notional rents can be amended by Treasury regulations. Will the Minister clarify what the review period will be between the Bill being enacted and the reviews taking place? The property market can be extremely volatile and, for greater certainty, people will want to know when the reviews are likely to occur.