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Written question asked by Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 15 December 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 December 2025. It was answered by Dan Tomlinson (Labour) on Thursday, 18 December 2025 on behalf of the Treasury.


Business Rates: Tax Allowances

Question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December to Question 97661 on Business Rates: Tax Allowances, how many and what proportion of the ratepayers who will see no increases were eligible for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief in 2025-26.

Answer

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic.

To support with bill increases, the Government has introduced a generous support package worth £4.3 billion over the next 3 years, including support to help ratepayers to transition to their new bill.

As a result, over half of all ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties in England. The Government is paying for this tax cut through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties, including distribution warehouses used by online giants.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
99813
Session
2024-26
Related items
Leisure and Retail Trade: Business Rates
Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Written questions
House of Commons
Business Rates: Tax Allowances
Thursday, 21 May 2026
Written questions
House of Commons
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Leisure Business rates Tax allowances Retail trade Hospitality industry
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk