Nope! Jane Sartin shares why the Flexible Space Association is continuing to work on ensuring that the UK government understands the full impact of changing how serviced offices are assessed for business rates. Especially with the CCA deadline looming.

Bernie Mitchell chats with Jane Sartin from the Flexible Space Association about how she’s spent most of 2025 in rooms with ministers, civil servants, and treasury officials trying to stop a policy change that could wipe out independent workspace operators across the country.

Jane Sartin from the Flexible Space Association are making the case that a new property tax increase could cause a crash of businesses and put jobs at risk.

In a letter, co-signed by 60 operators (who host more than 27k businesses), sent to UK chancellor Rachel Reeve they express "urgent and deeply serious concern" over the changes to business rates. The letter accuses the Valuation Office Agency of changing how it rates for office spaces without informing owners and occupiers.

Previously flex spaces were treated as individual units for business rates, allowing members to claim reliefs such as ‘small business rates relief’. The reclassification now treats flex spaces as a single property, leading to much higher bills. The change has also been applied retroactively, with some operators receiving backdated bills of up to £400k.