Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the equity of eligibility for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief of licensed betting offices and other gambling leisure premises, including adult gaming centres and bingo halls.

In October 2024, the Government laid a statutory instrument defining the retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties that will be eligible for new, lower business rates multipliers from April 2026.

Since they were announced at Budget 2024, the Government has been clear that scope of the RHL multipliers would broadly reflect the scope of the current RHL relief. The previous Government made the decision to exclude betting shops from the relief. This Government considered the issue in the round, and decided to continue the treatment the previous Government chose to ensure the tax cut is appropriately targeted.

The classification of betting shops as financial and professional services is a planning use class and is not assigned by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) for business rates purposes. The VOA values land and buildings based on physical features and how the property is occupied. Planning use classes do not affect how the VOA value betting shops.