M
Member
Speaking in the House of Lords on 10 February 2026
Debate
Local Government Finance Act 1988 (Prescription of Non-Domestic Rating Multipliers) (England) Regulations 2026Contribution
However, the fundamental flaw remains: the current system is designed to value property, not cultural purpose. The Valuation Office Agency applies generic valuation models designed for retail and hospitality to a specialised cultural sector with a unique operational and economic model. Recording studios are often misvalued as offices because no dedicated category exists; studio owners are taxed on three-foot-thick soundproofing walls, as we have heard, and acoustic voids essential to their craft as if they were rentable floor space. As long as venues and studios are treated as speculative commercial assets rather than cultural utilities, relief measures, however welcome, amount only to temporary stays of execution. What we require is a structural reform of the valuation methodology itself.
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