LONDON, Jan. 27 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news:
Eligibility
Pubs
Reliefwillbe awarded to pubsthatmeetall ofthe following characteristics:
a. is open to thegeneralpublic,
b. allows free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided,
c. allows drinking without requiring food to be consumed, and
d. permitsdrinks to bepurchasedat a bar.
For these purposes, the meaning of pub does not include:
a. Restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, snack bars,
b. Hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses,
c. sporting venues,
d. festival sites, theatres, concert halls, cinemas,
e. museums, exhibition halls,and
f. casinos
The proposed exclusions in the list in the paragraph above is not intended to be exhaustive and it will be forLocal Authoritiestodeterminethose cases where eligibility is unclear.Local Authoritieswill already have a good understanding of the pubs in their areas and will be able to readily form a view on eligibility inthe majority ofcases.
Where eligibility is unclear,Local Authorities should also consider broader factors in their considerations - i.e., in meeting the stated intent of policy that itdemonstratesthe characteristics that would lead it to be classified as a pub by the natural meaning of the word. For example, being owned andoperatedby a brewery.
Live musicvenues
Live musicvenues are properties that are:
a. wholly or mainly used for the performance of live musicfor the purpose of entertaining an audience.
b. Can be used for other activities but only if those other activities are:
i. ancillary or incidental to the performance of live music (e.g. the sale of food or drink to audience members).
ii. Do not affect the primary use of the premises for the performance of live music (e.g. because the activities are infrequent such as use of the venue as a polling station or fortnightly community event).
Properties are not a live music venue for the purpose of this relief if the property is wholly or mainly used as a nightclub or a theatre, for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended).
There may be circumstances where it is difficult to tell whether an activity is a performance of live music or, instead, the playing of recorded music. Although we would expect this to be clear in most circumstances, guidance on this may be found inChapter 16 of the statutory guidanceissued in April 2018 under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.
Whatyou'llget
If you are a puborlivemusicvenuethat meetsone ofthe above definitions,you willbenefitfrom 15%business ratesreliefin 2026-27. This relief will apply on top of anyTransitional RelieforSupporting Small BusinessReliefyou are eligible for.
Your business rates bill will then be frozen in real terms in 2027-28 and 2028-29, meaning it will only go up by inflation in those years.
Toget an estimate of what your business rates bill will be next year, including this relief, click here.
Example
You are an independent pub with a rateable valuegoing from£30,000 to £39,000in April 2026. You areclaiming 40% retail,hospitalityand leisure (RHL) relief in 2025-26.
In 2025-26, before RHL relief,the pub'sbusiness rates bill is £14,970 (£30,000 x 49.9p).The RHL relief would be worth 40% x £14,970 = £5,988, meaningthefinal2025-26billis£14,970 - £5,988 =£8,982.
In 2026-27, due to the 2026 revaluation, the rateable value of the pub has increased from £30,000 to £39,000. The pub is eligible for the new small business RHL multiplier of 38.2p in 2026-27, so before any reliefs, the pub's bill would be £39,000 x 38.2p= £14,898.
To help smooth the transition to the permanently lower RHL multipliers, thegovernment is providing relief through the Supporting Small Business scheme for properties losing their RHL relief in 2026-27. This means that the pub's bill increase in 2026-27 compared to 2025-26 is capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant Transitional Relief cap (in this case, 15%).
15% of the 2025-26 bill of £8,982 would be £1,347, which is higher than the £800 cap. So, in this case,the 15% cap applies:£8,982 + £1,347= £10,329.
A 15% relief is then applied to the £10,329: £10,329 x 15% =£1,549. £10,329 - £1,549 =£8,780final bill in 2026-27.
In 2027-28,the pub's£8,780 bill will only go up by inflation. Assumingthe September 2026 CPI figure is 2%,thebill would go upto£8,956(£8,780 x 1.02).
Assuming the September 2027CPI figure is 2%,thebill would go up to£9,135(£8,956x 1.02).
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
