Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the higher tax multiplier for business rates paid by properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or more on bonded warehouses.

The higher multiplier targets those businesses occupying the highest-value properties. That is why the Government has set the threshold at which the higher multiplier is applied to properties with RVs above £500,000, in order to sustainably fund a lower multiplier for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with RVs below £500,000, which make up the backbone of England's high streets.

As the business rates burden falls more heavily on property-intensive sectors, the Government wants to ensure that the business rates burden is permanently rebalanced, and that high street businesses are supported.