Budget: £10m for council tax cut, part-time Travelcards and affordable workspaces for start-ups
Posted by GLA Conservatives in News
2014/15 costed proposals will slash over-the-top TfL perks and put cash into the pockets of Londoners
Money raised from scrapping the over generous TfL “nominee pass”, which allows free travel for flatmates and lodgers of staff, should be ploughed into helping council tax payers, commuters and start-up businesses, according to Gareth Bacon, GLA Conservatives budget spokesman.
The estimated £10m raised by cancelling the nominee pass scheme should be used to pay for the following tax-cutting and pro-business measures:
- £7m to further cut council tax. A 2.2% cut for 2014/15 (compared to the Mayor’s 1.3%), accelerating progress towards the Mayor’s 10% reduction target by 2016
- £1m to fund a feasibility study (including all technical assessments and financial modelling) into the introduction of part-time Travelcards and one-hour bus tickets
- £2m to pilot the conversion of 70 empty garages into affordable workshops and studios for start-ups and micro businesses
Steve O'Connell: Convert Empty Garages Into Affordable Studios and Workshops for Start-Ups
Business is booming in the UK. There are an estimated 4.9million private sector businesses in the UK, employing around 24.3million people, with a combined turnover of £3.3billion. Three quarters of these businesses are non-employing, or sole traders.
However, although thriving enterprise is a good news story for our economy, start-ups and micro businesses are threatened by continuously rising commercial property prices. Small businesses in London are bearing a huge 'cost burden' according to the Federation of Small Businesses and London First. Their Small Business Cities Index has ranked London the second highest compared with 23 other global cities when it comes to work space rentals, taxes, wages, and redundancies.
It's not just offices, micro businesses working in light industry also face high rents. An online search of available commercial studios and workshops for rent in a variety of areas across London brought up a price range of £560 – £1,630 per month, very high prices for a start-up cycle mechanic or a growing architect's firm.
3K empty garages identified in London: Convert them into affordable studios and workshops for start-ups
New report urges initial London pilot of 300 garages, with eventual UK-wide roll out
Converting some of London’s 3,275 identified empty garages into basic studios, workshops and offices could provide the Capital’s start-ups with affordable space and opportunity to grow.
A new report, ‘From Lock Up to Start Up’, urges housing associations to transform disused garages into commercial spaces and rent them out at competitive prices to micro-businesses such as cycle mechanics, carpenters and product designers.
Lock up to start up
Converting some of London’s 3,275 identified empty garages into basic studios, workshops and offices could provide the Capital’s start-ups with affordable space and opportunity to grow.
A new report, ‘From Lock Up to Start Up’, urges housing associations to transform disused garages into commercial spaces and rent them out at competitive prices to micro-businesses such as cycle mechanics, carpenters and product designers.
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