Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Act on small high-street businesses.

The Non-Domestic Rating (Private Schools and Multipliers) Act gained Royal Assent on 3 April, giving the Government powers to introduce the new multipliers announced at Autumn Budget 2024, and removing charitable rate relief for private schools.

The new multipliers include 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 on 2026/27 – those with Rateable Values (RVs) of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.

The rates for these new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the expected effects of the new multiplier arrangements.