Retail Discount

At the Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023, the Chancellor announced that the government will continue to provide eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties with 75% expanded retail discount from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, capped at £110,000 per business.

Please note to claim the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief, you must not have exceeded either the £110,000 cash cap per year or the Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) limit of £315,000 over the 3-year period ( 2022 to 2023, 2023 to 2024, and 2024 to 2025).

The criteria for qualifying for the Expanded Retail Discount for 2024 to 2025 is the same as 2023 to 2024.  However, if you no longer qualify, please contact the Rates Office as soon as possible so the relief can be removed from your rates account.

If you have not received the Expanded Retail Discount but believe your business qualifies for it, please check the criteria below and complete the on-line application at the end of this page.  Details of the discounts available to eligible businesses, from 2021-22 to 2024-25, are shown below.

2021 to 2022

100% Expanded Retail Discount from 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2021. This will be followed by 66% Expanded Retail Discount for the period from 1 July 2021 to 31 March 2022, capped at £2 million per business for properties that were required to be closed on 5 January 2021, or £105,000 per business for other eligible properties.

2022 to 2023

50% Expanded Retail Discount for the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, capped at £110,000 per business.

2023 to 2024

75% Expanded Retail Discount for the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, capped at £110,000 per business.

2024 to 2025

75% Expanded Retail Discount for the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, capped at £110,000 per business.

Properties which will qualify for the Expanded Retail Discount

1. Hereditaments that meet the eligibility for Expanded Retail Discount will be occupied hereditaments which meet all of the following conditions:
a. they are wholly or mainly being used:

• i. as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues,
• ii. for assembly and leisure; or
• iii. as hotels, guest & boarding premises and self-catering accommodation,

2. 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
• Employment agencies – Only available for 2021-22
• Estate agents and letting agents - Only available for 2021-22
• Betting shops - Only available for 2021-22

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) Order 1987 (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 Chapter 16 of the statutory guidance issued in April 2018 under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.

3. 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

4. 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

5. To qualify for the discount the hereditament should be wholly or mainly being used for the above qualifying purposes. In a similar way to other reliefs (such as charity relief), this is a test on use rather than occupation. Therefore, hereditaments which are occupied but not wholly or mainly used for the qualifying purpose will not qualify for the relief. For the avoidance of doubt, hereditaments which have closed due to the government’s advice on COVID19 should be treated as occupied for the purposes of this relief.

Properties that do not qualify for the Expanded Retail Discount

6. 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)
• Medical services (e.g. vets, dentists, doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors)
• Professional services (e.g. solicitors, accountants, insurance agents/ financial advisers)
• Post office sorting offices

Please note the government guidance has been updated from 2022/23 and from the 1st April 2022, the following will no longer be eligible for the Expanded Retail Discount

• Employment agencies
• Estate agents and letting agents
• Betting Shops

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

Please note the maximum relief available is 75% capped at £110,000 per business which is subject to the Minimal Financial Assistance limits under the Subsidy Control Act which means that no recipient can receive over £315,000 over a 3-year period (consisting of the current financial year 2024 to 2025 and 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024). Visit the government's website for more information on subsidy control.

The government and the Council will not tolerate any business falsifying their records or providing false evidence to gain or retain this discount, including claiming support above the cash cap. A ratepayer who falsely applies for a discount or provides false information or makes false representation in order to gain or retain a discount may be guilty of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006.

To apply for the Expanded Retail Discount, please complete the on-line form below.

Apply for Retail Discount