Palmer Capital Partners claims the collapse of an £80m industrial portfolio sale was a direct result of Gordon Brown’s proposal to remove rate relief.

Under the proposal, empty commercial properties will receive full rate relief for three months, half rate relief for three months and no rate relief from then on.

The Palmer Capital sale was of the five industrial estates across the UK from a mix of Palmer-backed developers including a Wrenbridge-developed warehouse scheme worth £30m.

Alex Price, Palmer director, said: “We couldn’t sell because we couldn’t quantify what business rates would be. The proposal will make deals dependant on rent guarantees more difficult. We would now have to tell the purchaser to take on the business rate risk. We see this as a retrograde step.”

Ben Coles, Wrenbridge development director, said the proposal will also affect a trio of purchases made by the developer last week.

The news comes just two weeks after General Motors’ European Property manager, Julian Lyon, posted a petition against the proposal on the 10 Downing Street website, which currently has more than 2,400 signatures.