I have a client who owns a small shop in central
Edinburgh. He is very dependant on customers being able to
park outside as what he sells is heavy and bulky. Traffic
disruption from the tram works has caused his turnover to fall very
substantially in the last two years.
I can't imagine that he is alone.
It is surprising then that across Edinburgh commercial rates
have been reassessed. Often the assessor has sought a 60%
increase in rateable value, in a period in which rents have often
fallen in the five years since the last assessment.
I do wonder whether the attempt to increase revenue by
increasing the rateable value, rather than the rate per pound, is
an attempt to throw the burden of the cost of the trams onto the
commercial sector, which of course has no vote in council
elections.