Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2025 to Question 30146 on Business Rates, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing relative to the 2024-25 scheme the value of the retail, hospitality and leisure relief per hereditament in 2025-26 to offset increased costs arising from the removal of the £110,000 per business cap.

The existing retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) relief has been repeatedly extended year-by-year as a temporary stopgap measure. We recognise that this creates cliff-edges and uncertainty for businesses, as well as significant fiscal pressure.

That is why, from 2026/27 we will introduce permanently lower tax rates for RHL properties with rateable values (RVs) under £500,000. Like all business rates multipliers, these lower RHL multipliers will not be subject to a cash cap. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.

We also recognise that RHL businesses will need support during the interim period for 2025/26, and so we are providing 40 per cent relief to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.

The rates for the 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 effects of the new multiplier arrangements.