25 March 2020

Cash grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses

Updated 25th March 2020
Businesses in England in these sectors with a rateable value under £15,000, they will receive a grant of £10,000.

Businesses in England in these sectors with a rateable value between £15,001 and £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000.

Properties must be wholly or mainly used:
- as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues
- for assembly and leisure
- as hotels, guest and boarding premises and self-catering accommodation

You do not need to do anything. Your local authority will write to you if you are eligible for this grant. Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, the reliefs and grants should be directed to the relevant local authority.

https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council

Shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues mean:
− 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)
− 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
− Employment agencies
− Estate agents and letting agents
− Betting shops
− 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
ii. Hereditaments that are being used for the assembly of visiting members of the public.
− Public halls
− Clubhouses, clubs and institutions

Hotels, guest & boarding premises and self-catering accommodation mean:
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

The list below sets out the types of uses NOT eligible for this relief.
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
ii. Hereditaments that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public

Caveat: The information contained here is not complete and is extracted from this Document which please access for more detail:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/875613/Expanded_Retail_Discount_Guidance_25.03.20.doc.pdf