Business chiefs warn Healey's £1bn 'office tax' on London skyscrapers would be an 'attack on growth'

Property bosses are urging Chancellor John Healey to abandon plans to raise business rates on high-value London office blocks ahead of his first Budget on October 28. The measure, targeting commercial buildings with rateable values above £500,000, would raise £1bn for the Treasury, with the Square Mile and Canary Wharf bearing the heaviest burden. Around 9,000 properties across London and the South East would be caught by the change, while high street retailers, the hospitality sector and warehouses would be spared.

City Property Association chair Nikki Dibley warned the hike risks 'weakening the UK's competitiveness at exactly the moment we should be' strengthening it.

BusinessLDN chief John Dickie said raising levies on large office buildings threatens to erode the UK's capacity to draw in international investment and corporate headquarters.

Real Estate UK chief executive Vanessa Hale said the government cannot 'tax its way to delivering good growth in every postcode' — Healey's own key Budget pledge.