Business Rates: Pride in Place Programme
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a business rates holiday for small businesses in areas that have received Pride in Place funding.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson
The Government has introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties.
The new RHL multipliers replace the temporary RHL relief that had been winding down since the pandemic. Unlike RHL relief, the new multipliers are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there is no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England benefit.
Further, the Government has extended Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) to support small businesses to grow and expand, by giving them an additional two years of SBRR when they open a second premises. Around a third of properties already pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent SBRR, with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.
Later this year the Government will publish a High Streets Strategy to support all high streets nationally and equip local authorities with the tools they need to drive long-term high street regeneration.
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