Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme

As announced in the Autumn Budget In October 2024, the 2025/26 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme will provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 40% discount, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.  

Qualifying businesses are those which are wholly or mainly being used:

1. as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas or live music venues
2. for assembly and leisure; or
3. as hotels, guest & boarding premises or self-catering accommodation

Government guidance further defines these as:

• Premises that are being used for the sale of goods to visiting members of the public:

• Shops (such as: florists, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, jewellers, stationers, off licences, chemists, newsagents, hardware stores, supermarkets, etc)
• Charity shops
• Opticians
• Post offices
• Furnishing shops/ display rooms (such as: carpet shops, double glazing, garage doors)
• Car/ caravan show rooms
• Second-hand car lots
• Markets
• Petrol stations
• Garden centres
• Art galleries (where art is for sale/hire)

• Premises that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public:

• Hair and beauty services (such as: hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops, etc)
• Shoe repairs/ key cutting
• Travel agents
• Ticket offices e.g. for theatre
• Dry cleaners
• Launderettes
• PC/ TV/ domestic appliance repair
• Funeral directors
• Photo processing
• Tool hire
• Car hire

• Premises that are being used for the sale of food and/or drink to visiting members of the public:

• Restaurants
• Takeaways
• Sandwich shops
• Coffee shops
• Pubs
• Bars

• Premises which are being used as cinemas
• Premises that are being used as live music venues:
• Premises that are being used for the provision of sport, leisure and facilities to visiting members of the public (including for the viewing of such activities):

• Sports grounds and clubs
• Museums and art galleries
• Nightclubs
• Sport and leisure facilities
• Stately homes and historic houses
• Theatres
• Tourist attractions
• Gyms
• Wellness centres, spas, massage parlours
• Casinos, gambling clubs and bingo halls

• Premises that are being used for the assembly of visiting members of the public:

• Public halls
• Clubhouses, clubs and institutions

• Premises where the non-domestic part is being used for the provision of living accommodation as a business:

• Hotels, guest and boarding houses
• Holiday homes
• Caravan parks and sites

Government guidance states the following businesses will not qualify for the 2022/23 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme:

• Premises that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public:

• Financial services (e.g. banks, building societies, cash points, bureau de change, short-term loan providers, betting shops)
• Medical services (e.g. vets, dentists, doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors)
• Professional services (e.g. solicitors, accountants, insurance agents/ financial advisers, employment agencies, estate agents, letting agents)
• Post office sorting offices

• Premises that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public.

For 2023/24 The Govenment have increased the relief for qualifying businesses to 75% up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.