Retail Hospitality and Leisure relief 2023-24 & 2024-25

The Government announced that it will extend the 2023-24 scheme to provide eligible, occupied retail hospitality and leisure properties with;

• a 75% relief up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business for the financial years of 2023-24 and 2024-25

To be eligible for this relief, the premises must be occupied and meet all of the following conditions:

a. They are wholly or mainly being used as

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

We consider shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues to mean:

i. Hereditaments 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)

ii. Hereditaments 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

iii. Hereditaments 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 

iv. Hereditaments which are being used as cinemas

v. Hereditaments that are being used as live music venues:

Live music venues are hereditaments wholly or mainly used for the performance of live music for the purpose of entertaining an audience. Hereditaments cannot be considered a live music venue for the purpose of business rates relief where a venue is wholly or mainly used as a nightclub or a theatre, for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order1987 (as amended).

Hereditaments can be a live music venue even if used for other activities, but only if those other activities (i) are merely ancillary or incidental to the performance of live music (e.g. the sale/supply of alcohol to audience members) or (ii) do not affect the fact that the primary activity for the premises is the performance of live music (e.g. because those other activities are insufficiently regular or frequent, such as a polling station or a fortnightly community event).

There may be circumstances in which it is difficult to tell whether an activity is a performance of live music or, instead, the playing of recorded music. Although we would expect this would be clear in most circumstances, guidance on this may be found in the revised guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 (publishing.service.gov.uk).

We consider assembly and leisure to mean:

i. Hereditaments 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

ii. Hereditaments that are being used for the assembly of visiting members of the public: 

• Public halls
• Clubhouses, clubs and institutions

We consider hotels, guest & boarding premises and self-catering accommodation to mean:

i. Hereditaments 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 

b. The ratepayer for that chargeable day has not refused the relief for the eligible hereditament. The ratepayer may refuse the relief for each eligible hereditament anytime up to 30 April 2025 for relief for the year 2024-25. The ratepayer cannot withdraw their refusal for either all or part of the financial year.

The list below sets out the types of uses that the government does not consider to be an eligible use for the purpose of this discount.

i. Hereditaments 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, bureaux 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 

ii. Hereditaments that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public

Backdating your application

A decision to award Retail Hospitality & Leisure relief for 2023-24 must be made by the council before 30 September following the 1 April – 31 March period the application relates to.  This means you should apply for any relief for the rating year ending 31 March 2024 before 30 September 2024.

Applications for the rating year ending 31 March 2025 must be made before 30 September 2025.

How to apply for discount

If you feel your business fits the criteria for the relief and have not received it, you can apply for retail hospital & leisure relief by filling in our online form.  

Apply for Business Rates discount

Cash cap and Subsidy

In line with the conditions set by the government, a ratepayer may only claim up to £110,000 of support each year under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Schemes for all of their eligible hereditaments. This cash cap applies at a Group company level (so holding companies and subsidiaries cannot claim up to the cash cap for each company) and also to organisations which, although not a company, have such an interest in a company that they would, if they were a company, result in its being the holding company. 

Furthermore, the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme is subject to the Minimal Financial Assistance limits under the Subsidy Control Act.  This means no recipient can receive over £315,000 over a 3-year period (consisting of the current financial year and the 2 previous financial years). Extended Retail Discounts granted in 2021-22 do not count towards the limit. Covid business grants received from local government and any other subsidy claimed under the Minimal Financial Assistance or Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit over the 3-year period should be counted. 

Therefore, to claim the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief you must not have exceeded either the £110,000 cash cap or the Minimal Financial Assistance limit of £315,000 over 3 years.

Further details of the cash cap and subsidy control can be found here. 

Complete a cash cap declaration

You can complete your cash cap declaration by filling in our online form.

Complete your cash cap declaration

If we have applied the discount and you do not wish to receive it, you can choose to cancel your discount. 

Contact Business Rates

 

Page last reviewed: 23 February 2024