Business Rates Relief confirmed for 2025/26

A letter to councils from the government’s Non-Domestic Rates Team has confirmed the Business Rates Relief measures for 2025/26 announced at the 2024 Autumn Budget. Here’s a summary.

Standard and small business multipliers

This confirms that:

• The non-domestic rating multiplier will be 55.5p
• The small business non-domestic rating multiplier will be 49.9p

Relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties

For retail, hospitality, and leisure properties, 40% relief (capped at £110,000) is available for 2025/26 under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme. Guidance has been published setting out the eligibility criteria. Local authorities are expected to include details of the relief to eligible ratepayers in their 2025/26 rates bills.

The £110,000 cap is per business and not per property. As has been the policy in previous years, businesses that would be eligible for relief above £110,000 if there were no cap in place, should be awarded relief up to the full value of £110,000.

What about private school charities?

The Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill has passed the final stages in the House of Commons and is now working its way through the House of Lords.

The measure to remove charitable rate relief from private school charities is subject to this legislation being enacted. It is still expected that the relief will be removed from 1 April 2025. However, local authorities have been told that they should not issue bills with the relief removed until after the law has been enacted.

Film studios Business Rates Relief

The Film Studios Business Rates relief was announced at the Budget on 6 March 2024. This gives eligible film studios in England a 40% reduction on their gross business rates bills until 2034.

Relief for eligible film studios can be backdated to 1 April 2024 and local authorities have been encouraged to quickly implement the scheme and apply the relief where applicable.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/012025-publication-of-business-rates-relief-information

About the Author

Martin Johnson

Partner

With expertise in advising family-owned companies on a range of tax, accountancy and business issues, Martin also has an in-depth knowledge of the automotive and property sectors. In addition, he provides advice on inheritance tax planning and financial management to owner-managed businesses.  Martin leads the firm in developing its expertise in the buy-to-let sector, advising both residential and commercial property owners on relevant tax and legislation issues. A further element to Martin’s role is to build Torgersens’ relationships with banks, financial advisors and specialists in commercial and employment law to ensure that the firm’s clients have access to market-leading guidance.  

To get in touch please e-mail martin.johnson@torgersens.com.