Key information and support on business rate holidays and cash grants

What you need to know

The government is providing grant funding which will be paid to qualifying businesses by local councils.

Small businesses 
If your business qualifies for Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR), you could receive a funding grant of £10,000.

You can get small business rate relief if:

• your property’s rateable value is less than £15,000
• your business only uses one property
  
  

If you use more than one property, you can still get small business rate relief on your main property if both the following apply:

• none of your other properties have a rateable value above £2,899 and
• the total rateable value of all your properties is less than £20,000 (£28,000 in London)

 
The reliefs will be administered by local authorities in early April 2020. If your business qualifies for SBBR and has not been contacted, we recommend that you search for business rate reductions on your local council website for more information on how to apply. 


Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses 
Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors may be eligible for a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property. If your business has a rateable value of:

• up to £15,000, it may be eligible for a grant of £10,000
• over £15,000 and less than £51,000, it may be eligible for a grant of £25,000

​Businesses that claim a rate relief or cash grant because they are in the retail, hospitality and/or leisure sector must be ‘wholly or mainly being used’:

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

Some businesses are expressly excluded from the reliefs. The detailed criteria for England are set out in government guidance on the expanded retail discount.

Premises occupied for "personal use" will not qualify. Beach huts, moorings and private stables are given as examples. Car parks and parking spaces do not qualify. Decisions about personal use will be taken by local authorities. If you have received a non-domestic rates demand notice, this is normally a good indication that this premises is not treated as occupied for "personal use".

Premises which have closed temporarily due to the government’s advice on COVID-19 will be treated as occupied for the purposes of this relief.


Discretionary grant fund
An additional discretionary grant fund has been set up by the government to support some of the small businesses who were not eligible for the business grants scheme and have ongoing fixed property-related costs.
 
This fund is significantly smaller than the previous coronavirus related grants and will only be available to support a small number of businesses. We recommend that you search for ‘Discretionary grant fund’ on your local council website for more information on how to apply. 

To be eligible businesses must:

• have been trading on or before 11 March 2020 
• employ fewer than 50 employees 
• have experienced a significant drop in revenue and / or financial impact 
• have fixed property-related costs 
• have not received other coronavirus-specific grants (not including the coronavirus job retention scheme to furlough staff, or the self-employment income support scheme)
• have experienced a 40% or more drop in income due to the impact of coronavirus crisis. Decisions about granting reliefs will be taken by local authorities, therefore the type and extent of evidence required to demonstrate a 40% drop in income will also be taken by local authority. This might consist of your business bank statements for the year ended March 2020, balance sheet and profit and loss statements and a copy of a current business tenancy or rental agreement, lease, co-working membership agreement or similar.