Retail Hospitality and Leisure Multiplier 2026/27

(a) The premises must be used for:

(i) the retail sale or hire of goods, or

(ii) the provision of a service,

where the sale, hire, or provision of the service is to visiting members of the public;

(b) use for the sale of food or drink, where the food or drink is for consumption on or off the hereditament by visiting members of the public;

(c) use as a hotel or as a boarding or guest house by members of the public, provided that no significant element of nursing care is provided as part of the services provided by the hotel, boarding house or guest house;

(d) use as a caravan park, campsite, self-catering accommodation or holiday home by members of the public;

(e) use for the provision of cultural, community or recreational facilities, to visiting members of the public

• Shops
• Supermarkets
• Charity shops
• Shopping centres
• Motorway service stations
• Florists
• Bakers
• Butchers
• Grocers
• Greengrocers
• Jewellers
• Stationers
• Off licences
• Chemists
• Opticians
• Newsagents
• Hardware stores
• Markets
• Petrol stations
• Garden centres
• Furniture shops/display rooms
• Car/caravan show rooms (including those for second-hand vehicles)
• Art galleries where art is for sale/hire
• Hereditaments from which domestic goods are hired
• Hereditaments from which tools are hired
• Hereditaments from which cars are hired
• Hereditaments from which bicycles are hired

• Funeral directors
• Launderettes
• Hair and beauty salons (for instance, hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops, salons carrying out non-surgical cosmetic procedures, and salons carrying out piercings)
• Tattooists
• Garages
• Shoe repairers
• Key cutters
• Dry cleaners
• PC/TV/Domestic appliance repairers
• Photo processers
• Post offices (excluding post office sorting offices and post depots where customers can only collect missed deliveries)
• Travel agents
• Ticket offices (e.g. for the theatre)
• Animal grooming parlours/stabling of animals (unless stabling working animals, such as professional racehorses, as these would not be open to visiting members of the public)

• Restaurants
• Takeaways (providing that the hereditament is generally open to visiting members of the public, even if the majority of their sales are online and/or done by delivery)
• Sandwich shops
• Coffee shops
• Cafes
• Pubs
• Bars

• Hotels
• Boarding/guest houses
• B&Bs
• Holiday homes
• Apartments used for short-term lets (including serviced apartments where they are within scope of business rates)

• Caravan parks
• Campsites

• Live music venues
• Nightclubs
• Cinemas
• Theatres
• Libraries
• Museums
• Galleries
• Archives
• Stately homes/historic houses
• Tourist information centres
• Public halls/village halls
• Venues for hire for events or activities, where the events and activities are principally for the benefit of visiting members of the public
• Premises used wholly or mainly for meetings by voluntary associations
• Premises used by youth groups for meetings and activities, such as scout huts
• Premises used for lectures or lessons undertaken for recreational purposes (such as art classes, pottery classes, language lessons and performing arts classes)
• Sport and leisure facilities, such as gyms, sports grounds, and sports clubs
• Health spas, wellness centres, and massage parlours
• Casinos, gambling clubs, and bingo halls
• Theme parks
• Soft play centres
• Hereditaments used for activities such as bowling, laser tag, paintballing, escape rooms, and miniature golf
• Zoos
• Swimming pools (unless exclusively used by professional athletes, as these would not be open to visiting members of the public)
• Skating rinks (unless exclusively used by professional athletes, as these would not be open to visiting members of the public)

• Wholesale sales and hire of goods
• Financial services (such as banks, building societies, cash points, bureaux de change, short-term loan providers, insurance agents, financial advisers)
• Medical and health services (such as medicine, dentistry, audiology/hearing services, cosmetic surgery, physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic services, acupuncture, herbal medicine)
• Professional services (such as law, accountancy, tax advice, management consultancy, engineering services, architectural or surveying services, veterinary services, estate agency work, letting agency work)
• Storage and distribution of goods for online sales (i.e. warehouses)

• Nursing homes, children’s homes, and respite care facilities

• Recording studios and film studios for business or professional use
• Crematoria
• Taxi/minicab firms
• Show homes
• Conference centres
• Betting shops
• Postal sorting offices
• Citizens’ advice bureaus
• Job centres
• Marinas, wharfs, piers and jetties
• Car parks
• Public transport hereditaments other than bicycle docking stations (such as bus/coach stations, bus/tram shelters, railway stations, tramway stations, airports, ferry ports, riverboat services, including piers used for river services)
• Schools, creches, nurseries, colleges, and universities (as they are not open to visiting members of the public)
• Film and theatre production companies (as they are not open to visiting members of the public)

How to apply for the RHL multiplier

If you feel your business fits the criteria for the multiplier, you can apply by filling in our form.

You can still receive the RHL multiplier if you receive Small Business Rate Relief, Supporting Small Business Rate Relief, Mandatory Rate Relief, Discretionary Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief.