Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme

Hereditaments that are being used for the sale of goods to visiting members of the public:

• Shops (such as: florists, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, jewellers, stationers, off licences, chemists, newsagents, hardware stores, supermarkets, etc)
• Charity shops
• Opticians
• Post offices
• Furnishing shops/ display rooms (such as: carpet shops, double glazing, garage doors)
• Car/caravan show rooms
• Second-hand car lots
• Markets
• Petrol stations
• Garden centres
• Art galleries (where art is for sale/hire)

Hereditaments that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public:

• Hair and beauty services (such as: hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops, etc)
• Shoe repairs/key cutting
• Travel agents
• Ticket offices e.g. for theatre
• Dry cleaners
• Launderettes
• PC/TV/domestic appliance repair
• Funeral directors
• Photo processing
• Tool hire
• Car hire

Hereditaments that are being used for the sale of food and/or drink to visiting members of the public:

• Restaurants
• Takeaways
• Sandwich shops
• Coffee shops
• Pubs
• Bars

Hereditaments which are being used as cinemas

Hereditaments that are being used as live music venues:

• Live music venues are hereditaments wholly or mainly used for the performance of live music for the purpose of entertaining an audience. Hereditaments cannot be considered a live music venue for the purpose of business rates relief where a venue 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).
• Hereditaments can be a live music venue even if used for other activities, but only if those other activities (i) are merely ancillary or incidental to the performance of live music (e.g. the sale/supply of alcohol to audience members) or (ii) do not affect the fact that the primary activity for the premises is the performance of live music (e.g. because those other activities are insufficiently regular or frequent, such as a polling station or a fortnightly community event).

Hereditaments that are being used for the provision of sport, leisure and facilities to visiting members of the public (including for the viewing of such activities).

• Sports grounds and clubs
• Museums and art galleries
• Nightclubs
• Sport and leisure facilities
• Stately homes and historic houses
• Theatres
• Tourist attractions
• Gyms
• Wellness centres, spas, massage parlours
• Casinos, gambling clubs and bingo halls

Hereditaments that are being used for the assembly of visiting members of the public.

• Public halls
• Clubhouses, clubs and institutions

Hereditaments where the non-domestic part is being used for the provision of living accommodation as a business:

• Hotels, Guest and Boarding Houses
• Holiday homes
• Caravan parks and sites

To qualify for the discount the hereditament should be wholly or mainly being used for the above qualifying purposes. In a similar way to other reliefs (such as charitable relief), this is a test on use rather than occupation. Therefore, hereditaments which are occupied but not wholly or mainly used for the qualifying purpose will not qualify for the relief. 

The list below sets out the types of uses that the government does not consider to be an eligible use for the purpose of this discount.

Hereditaments that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public

• Financial services (e.g. banks, building societies, cash points, bureaux de change, short-term loan providers)
• Medical services (e.g. vets, dentists, doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors)
• Professional services (e.g. solicitors, accountants, insurance agents/ financial advisers)
• Post office sorting offices

Hereditaments that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public

In line with conditions set by the government, a ratepayer can claim a maximum of £110,000 of support under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme.  This is across all the premises that a ratepayer may be responsible for. The cash cap is applies at a group company level (so holding companies and subsidiaries cannot claim up to the cash cap for each company).

The Retail,Hospitality and Leisure scheme is also subject to the Minimal Financial Assistance limits under the Subsidy Control Act. This means that no recipient can receive over £315,000 over a three year period (consisting of the current financial year and the two previous years.

Therefore to qualify for this relief, the ratepayer must not have exceeded either the £110,000 cash cap for 2024/2025 or the Minimal Financial Assistance limit of £315,000 for the three year period.

In those cases where it is clear to the local authority that the ratepayer is likely to breach the cash caps then the authority should automatically withhold the discount.

Any business receiving the Expanded Retail Discount has a duty to inform the Council if they believe by receiving the discount they will exceed the cash cap.