Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the exclusion of recording studios from the lower Retail, Hospitality and Leisure business rates multipliers on the recording studio sector.

The Government has 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.

Since these new multipliers were announced at Budget 2024, the Government has been clear that the intention was for their scope to broadly reflect the scope of the previous RHL relief, which was centred around RHL properties that are “reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public”.

However, in recognition of the impact of the 2026 revaluation on bills, the Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion to protect ratepayers against large overnight increases in bills. Additionally, many recording studios are also likely to benefit from Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR). SBRR is available to businesses with a single property below a set RV. Eligible properties under £12,000 receive 100 per cent relief, which means around a third of properties in England pay no business rates at all. Tapered support is available to properties valued between £12,000 and £15,000.