The 2023/24 and 2024/25 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates relief scheme will provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with 75% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.
The 2022/23 scheme provided eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties 50% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.
Eligibility Descriptions
Eligible businesses will include those which are wholly or mainly used:
- as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues
- for assembly and leisure or
- as hotels, guest and boarding premises and self-catering accommodation.
Premises that are being used for the sale of goods to visiting members of the public such as:
- 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).
Premises that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public include:
- 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.
Premises that are being used for the sale of food and/or drink to visiting members of the public include:
- restaurants
- takeaways
- sandwich shops
- coffee shops
- pubs
- bars.
Premises that are being used as a cinema.
Premises that are being used as live music venues that are:
- wholly or mainly used for the performance of live music for the purpose of entertaining an audience
- businesses 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.
Premises 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) including:
- 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.
Premises that are being used for the assembly of visiting members of the public include:
- public halls
- clubhouses, clubs and institutions.
Where part is being used for the provision of living accommodation as a business:
- hotels, guest and boarding houses
- holiday homes
- caravan parks and sites.
The list below sets out the types of businesses that the government does not consider to be an eligible use for the purpose of this discount.
- 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.
- All business premises that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public.
The lists set out above are not intended to be exhaustive as it would be impossible to list the many and varied uses that exist within the qualifying purposes. There will also be mixed uses. Telford & Wrekin Council will determine for themselves whether particular properties not listed are broadly similar in nature to those above and, if so, to consider them eligible for the relief. Conversely, properties that are not broadly similar in nature to those listed above should not be eligible for the relief.
The cash cap and subsidy control
In line with the conditions set by the government, a ratepayer may only claim up to £110,000 of support under the 2023/24 & 2024/25 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme 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 subsidies chapter within the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The subsidies chapter within the TCA only applies to subsidies over the value of approximately £343,000 per beneficiary over a 3-year period (consisting of the current financial year and the two previous financial years) (the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit). Extended Retail Discounts granted in 2020/21 or 2021/22 do not count towards the limit. Covid business grants received from local government and any other subsidy claimed under the 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 Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit of £343,000 over 3 years (including the current financial year).
Visit the GOV.UK website for a full list of qualifying businesses and criteria
How to apply
Businesses that are currently eligible for 2023/24 Retail Discount do not need to re-apply for 2024/25 Retail Discount. This will be automatically applied to your business rates bill for 2024/25.
If you wish to submit a new application for Retail Discount please complete our online application form below.
The Council will consider each award based on individual merits and reserves the right to decline or withdraw an award. In a similar way to other reliefs, this is a test on property use rather than occupation. It is for Telford and Wrekin to determine whether particular properties are broadly similar in nature to those list above and, if so, to consider their eligibility for the discount under our own local scheme.
You will be required to confirm that you have read and understood the Retail Discount Cap Limits and comply with the limits.
Complete our online form to apply for Retail Discount
Last updated: 07/06/2024 15:21
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