Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37227 on Hospitality Industry and Retail Trade: Business Rates, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the new (a) lower and (b) higher multiplier for retail, hospitality and leisure above £500,000 Rateable Value from 2026-27 on the value of retail hospitality and leisure business rate relief in (i) 2024-25 and (ii) 2025-26.

To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with Rateable Values below £500,000, from 2026-27.

This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from 2026-27 - those with Rateable Values of £500,000 and above.

Ahead of these changes being made, the Government recognises that businesses will need support in 2025-26. As such, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.

The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025, taking account of the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation as well as the broader economic and fiscal context.

Tax policy and legislation is not subject to the Better Regulation Framework Guidance which requires an Impact Assessment to accompany policy decisions. Nevertheless, when the new, permanently lower tax rates are set at Budget 2025, the Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.