From 1 April 2026, the Government will introduce two lower business rates multipliers for occupied Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) properties with a rateable value under £500,000:

  • Small Business RHL Multiplier
    Applies to properties with a rateable value below £51,000
    (2026/27: 38.2p)
  • Standard RHL Multiplier
    Applies to properties with a rateable value between £51,000 and £499,999
    (2026/27: 43.2p)

Important: These multipliers do not apply to unoccupied properties, which will be subject to the standard non-domestic rating multiplier.

Non-RHL Properties

If your property does not fall within an RHL category, the following multipliers apply:

  •  Small Business Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier
    Rateable value below £15,000
    (2026/27: 43.2p)
  • Standard Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier
    Rateable value £51,001 to £499,999
    (2026/27: 48.0p)
  • High-Value Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier
    Rateable value £500,000 or more
    (2026/27: 50.8p)

What Qualifies as an RHL Property?

To qualify for the lower multiplier, the property must:

  • Be used wholly or mainly for retail, hospitality, or leisure purposes
  • Be open to visiting members of the public, including businesses requiring membership (e.g., gyms) or appointments (e.g., hairdressers, garages)

The types of business include:

  • Retail sale or hire of goods (including businesses with significant online sales)
  •      Provision of services
  •      Sale of food and drink for on-premises consumption
  •      Hotels and guest houses
  •      Caravan parks, campsites, and self-catering accommodation
  •      (Excludes accommodation where care is provided, such as care homes)
  •      Cultural, community, or recreational facilities

Please see the drop downs below for a list of businesses that fall under each category.  Note: This is not an exhaustive list.

  • Supermarkets
  • Charity shops
  • Shopping centres
  • Motorway service stations
  • Florists
  • Bakers
  • Butchers
  • Grocers
  • Greengrocers
  • Jewellers
  • Stationers
  • Off licences
  • Chemists
  • Opticians
  • Newsagents
  • Hardware stores
  • Markets
  • Petrol stations
  • Garden centres
  • Furniture shops/display rooms
  • Car/caravan show rooms (including those for second-hand vehicles)
  • Art galleries where art is for sale/hire
  • Hereditaments from which domestic goods are hired
  • Hereditaments from which tools are hired
  • Hereditaments from which cars are hired
  • Hereditaments from which bicycles are hired

  • Funeral directors
  • Launderettes
  • Hair and beauty salons (for instance, hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops, salons carrying out non-surgical cosmetic procedures, and salons carrying out piercings)
  • Tattooists
  • Garages
  • Shoe repairers
  • Key cutters
  • Dry cleaners
  • PC/TV/Domestic appliance repairers
  • Photo processers
  • Post offices (excluding post office sorting offices and post depots where customers can only collect missed deliveries)
  • Travel agents
  • Ticket offices (e.g. for the theatre)
  • Animal grooming parlours/stabling of animals (unless stabling working animals, such as professional racehorses, as these would not be open to visiting members of the public)

  • Restaurants
  • Takeaways (providing that the hereditament is generally open to visiting members of the public, even if the majority of their sales are online and/or done by delivery)
  • Sandwich shops
  • Coffee shops
  • Cafes
  • Pubs
  • Bars

  • Hotels
  • Boarding/guest houses
  • B&Bs
  • Holiday homes
  • Apartments used for short-term lets (including serviced apartments where they are within scope of business rates)
  • Caravan parks
  • Campsites

  • Live music venues
  • Nightclubs
  • Cinemas
  • Theatres
  • Libraries
  • Museums
  • Galleries
  • Archives
  • Stately homes/historic houses
  • Tourist information centres
  • Public halls/village halls
  • Venues for hire for events or activities, where the events and activities are principally for the benefit of visiting members of the public
  • Premises used wholly or mainly for meetings by voluntary associations
  • Premises used by youth groups for meetings and activities, such as scout huts
  • Premises used for lectures or lessons undertaken for recreational purposes (such as art classes, pottery classes, language lessons and performing arts classes)
  • Sport and leisure facilities, such as gyms, sports grounds, and sports clubs
  • Health spas, wellness centres, and massage parlours
  • Casinos, gambling clubs, and bingo halls
  • Theme parks
  • Soft play centres
  • Hereditaments used for activities such as bowling, laser tag, paintballing, escape rooms, and miniature golf
  • Zoos
  • Swimming pools (unless exclusively used by professional athletes, as these would not be open to visiting members of the public
  • Skating rinks (unless exclusively used by professional athletes, as these would not be open to visiting members of the public)

  • Financial services (such as banks, building societies, cash points, bureaux de changes, short-term loan providers, insurance agents, financial advisers)
  • Medical and health services (such as medicine, dentistry, audiology/hearing services, cosmetic surgery, physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic services, acupuncture, herbal medicine)
  • Professional services (such as law, accountancy, tax advice, management consultancy, engineering services, architectural or surveying services, veterinary services, estate agency work, letting agency work)
  • Storage and distribution of goods for online sales (i.e. warehouses) – unless wholly or mainly used for sale of goods to visiting members of the public
  • Recording studios and film studios for business or professional use
  • Crematoria
  • Taxi/minicab firms
  • Show homes
  • Conference centres
  • Betting shops
  • Postal sorting offices
  • Citizens’ advice bureaus
  • Job centres
  • Marinas, wharfs, piers and jetties
  • Car parks
  • Public transport hereditaments other than bicycle docking stations (such as bus/coach stations, bus/tram shelters, railway stations, tramway stations, airports, ferry ports, riverboat services, including piers used for river services)
  • Schools, creches, nurseries, colleges, and universities (as they are not open to visiting members of the public)
  • Hereditaments used for the production of alcohol (such as breweries) - unless wholly or mainly open to visiting members of the public
  • Film and theatre production companies (as they are not open to visiting members of the public)

 

To view the full guidance visit the Government website by following this link:- Business Rates Multipliers: Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure - GOV.UK

Retail Discount

The Government introduced a Retail Discount for businesses occupying Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) properties:

  • 2023/24: 75% discount
  • 2024/25: 75% discount
  • 2025/26: Reduced to 40%

Important: Unlike the RHL Multiplier, the Retail Discount is subject to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.

If you would like to submit a backdated application for Retail Discount, please complete the following webform:

Complete our online form to apply for Retail Discount

Government guidance relating to this scheme can be found at Business rates guidance: 2022/23 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme - GOV.UK