Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme

Business Rates 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme

As announced in the Budget on 17 November 2022, the 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme will provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 75% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.  This scheme has now been extended up to 31 March 2025 inclusive.

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.


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