Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her email of 7January 2026 acknowledging receipt of my letter ref MC2025/27941, whether she will set out (a) the reasons for the widely differing changes to rateable values and (b) her Department’s longer-term projections for reliefs to reduce the business rates burden on the hospitality sector.

At the Budget, the Valuation Office (VO) announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. The VO are independent and are happy to talk to ratepayers if they have queries about how a rateable value has been assessed. Ratepayers can also challenge their rateable value through the online Check and Challenge process if they believe it is incorrect.

The Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion to protect ratepayers against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills. This means most properties seeing increases have them capped at 15 per cent or less in 2026/27, or £800 for the smallest.

The Government has also 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.

In addition, this year, every pub and live music venue is receiving 15 per cent off its business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget. Bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further two years.