Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Non-Domestic Rating (Definition of Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure Hereditament) Regulations 2025, for what reason casinos and gambling clubs are eligible for the new business rate relief but betting shops are not.

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.