For our clients in the hospitality sector including Pubs, Restaurants, Hotels and leisure.
- The government is introducing a business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England for the 2020 to 2021 tax year.
- A £25,000 grant will also be provided to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000.
- Guidance for local authorities on the business rates holiday will be published by 20 March.
- Government to grant permission for pubs and restaurants to operate as takeaways as part of coronavirus response. Planning rules will be relaxed so pubs and restaurants can operate as hot food takeaways during the coronavirus outbreak. Currently, planning permission is required for businesses to carry out a change of use to a hot food takeaway. The government has confirmed regulations will be relaxed to enable businesses to deliver this service without a planning application.
- Businesses will be required to tell the local planning authority when the new use begins and ends.
Here is Sunak’s speech:
“I announced last week that for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a rateable value of less than £51,000, they will pay no business rates this year. Today, I can go further and provide those businesses in those sectors with an additional cash grant of up to £25,000 per business to help bridge through this period.
“Additionally I am also extending today the business rates holiday to all businesses in those sectors irrespective of their rateable value. That means every single shop, pub, theatre, music venue, restaurant and any other businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector will pay no business rates whatsoever for 12 months.
“If they have a rateable value of less than £51,000 they can also now get a cash grant as well.
“I also announced last week that we would be providing £3,000 cash grants to the 700,000 of our smallest businesses. In light of the new circumstances and to support their cash flow, today I can increase those cash grants to £10,000.”