17. (1) Notwithstanding sections 15and 16, where in any year there is a change in ownership of a vacant site the amount of vacant site levy to be charged in respect of that site for that year, and for the preceding year, shall be zero.

(2) Subsection (1)shall not apply where—

(a) ownership of the site transfers from one company to an associated company,

(b) the owner of the site transfers it to a connected person (other than where ownership of the site devolves on the death of the owner), or

(c) ownership of the site changes, in the opinion of the planning authority in whose functional area the site is located, for the sole or principal purpose of avoiding the obligation to pay vacant site levy.

(3) In subsection (2) “associated company”, in relation to another company, means—

(a) a holding company or a subsidiary (both within the meaning of the Companies Act 2014) of that other company, or

(b) a body corporate that is a subsidiary of the same company of which the other company is a subsidiary.

(4) For the purposes of this section a person is connected with the owner of a vacant site if, but only if, he or she is—

(a) that owner’s spouse, civil partner, parent, brother, sister, child, step-child or lawfully adopted child,

(b) a person acting in his or her capacity as the trustee of any trust, the principal beneficiaries of which are the owner of the vacant site, the owner’s spouse or any of the owner’s children or any body corporate which the owner controls, or

(c) a partner of that director.

(5) A body corporate shall also be deemed to be connected with the owner of a vacant site if it is controlled by that owner.

(6) For the purposes of this section, an owner of a vacant site shall be deemed to control a body corporate if, but only if, he is, alone or together with any of the persons referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (4), interested in more than one-half of the equity share capital of that body or entitled to exercise or control the exercise of more than one-half of the voting power at any general meeting of that body.

(7) In subsection (6) —

(a) “equity share capital” has the same meaning as in section 7 of the Companies Act 2014, and

(b) references to voting power exercised by a director shall include references to voting power exercised by another body corporate which that director controls.