Ways and Means

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware that people who wish to change a commercial building to a different form of development, such as housing, have to market it actively for a considerable time to show that the property has no commercial use. Unless the Minister tells us differently, I assume that such people would be paying business rates during all that time. The planning process can often hold things up for a considerable time, so several years could pass while there was a debate about the matter, or even during the assembling of sites.