A number of reliefs are available for business rates, dependent on your circumstances or the location of your business. Please ensure to read the information in full.
- Small Business Rates Relief
- Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme 2022 to 2023
- Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme 2023 to 2024
- Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme 2024 to 2025
- Relief for charities
- Relief for not-for-profit organisations
- Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC)
- Rural Rate Relief
- Discretionary Rate Relief
- Relief for local newspapers
- Discretionary Revaluation Relief
- Acomb business development district
- Hardship relief
- Transitional Relief Scheme
- Extension of Transitional Relief and Supporting Small Business Relief for small and medium properties
- Properties in partial occupation
- Subsidies, formerly State Aid
- COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund
- Low-carbon Heat Relief
- Improvement relief 2024
Contact the business rates team to apply for a relief.
See further information about business rates property exemptions and reliefs.
Small Business Rates Relief
Small Business Rates Relief is available to reduce business rates bills for some small businesses.
You won’t pay any business rates on a property with a Rateable Value (RV) of £12,000 or less provided it is the only property in England which you occupy.
For properties with a rateable value of £12,001 to £15,000, the rate of relief will go down gradually from 100% to 0%.
In general this relief is only available to businesses who occupy either:
- 1 property with an RV which is less than £15,000, or;
- 1 property (with an RV which is less than £15,000) plus other additional properties providing:
- the additional properties each have a RV which is below £2,900 and
- the total RV of all your properties is less than £20,000
Even if you don’t qualify for Small Business Rates Relief and your property has a rateable value below £51,000, you'll still have the bill for your main property calculated using the lower rate multiplier.
If you already qualify for any mandatory relief, for example as a registered charity or under the rural relief scheme, you will not be eligible for relief under this scheme. Similarly, Small Business Rates Relief awards does not apply to properties that are unoccupied.
Download the small business rates relief application form.
Help for businesses that take on additional properties
If you currently receive Small Business Rates Relief and take on a second property you will continue to receive Small Business Rates Relief on your first property for a further 12 months. You will be charged full business rates on the new property.
Supporting small business relief
You can get supporting small business relief from 1 April 2023 if both of the following apply:
- your business property’s bill is going up after the next revaluation on 1 April 2023
- you’ll lose some or all of your small business rate relief or rural rate relief
What you’ll get
If you’re eligible, your bills will go up by no more than £600 for the 2023 to 2024 tax year.
Your bill will be adjusted if you're eligible.
Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme 2022 to 2023
At the Budget on 27 October the Chancellor announced the introduction of a new business rates relief scheme for retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth almost £1.7 billion in 2022/23 to support businesses.
The 2022/23 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme will provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 50% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.
Properties which will benefit from relief
Hereditaments which benefit from the relief are those which for a chargeable day in 2022/23:
- meet the eligibility criteria
- and;
- the ratepayer for that chargeable day has not refused the relief for the eligible hereditament. The ratepayer may refuse the relief for each eligible hereditament anytime up to 30 April 2023. The ratepayer cannot withdraw their refusal for either all or part of the financial year.
Amount of relief available
Subject to the £110,000 cash cap per business, the total amount of government-funded relief available for each property for 2022/23 under this scheme is:
- for chargeable days from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, 50% of the chargeable amount
The relief will be applied after mandatory reliefs and other discretionary reliefs.
Subject to the cash cap, the eligibility for the discount and the relief itself will be assessed and calculated on a daily basis.
Ratepayers that occupy more than one property will be entitled to relief for each of their eligible properties up to the maximum £110,000 cash cap, per business.
Eligibility for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme
To qualify for the relief the hereditament should be wholly or mainly being used for the following qualifying purposes. In a similar way to other reliefs (such as charity 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 lists set out are not intended to be exhaustive as it would be impossible to list the many and varied uses that exist within the qualifying purposes. However, they are intended to be a guide for authorities as to the types of uses that the government considers for this purpose to be eligible for relief. Authorities should determine for themselves whether particular properties not listed are broadly similar in nature to those listed and, if so, to consider them eligible for the relief. Conversely, properties that are not broadly similar in nature to those listed should not be eligible for the relief.
Hereditaments that meet the eligibility for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure scheme will be occupied hereditaments which meet all of the following conditions for the chargeable day:
- they are wholly or mainly being used:
- as shops, restaurants, cafés, drinking establishments, cinemas or live music venues
- for assembly and leisure; or
- as hotels, guest & boarding premises or self-catering accommodation
Hereditaments considered as shops, restaurants, cafés, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues
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
- charity shops
- opticians
- post offices
- furnishing shops or display rooms, such as: carpets, double glazing, garage doors
- car or caravan show rooms
- second-hand car lots
- markets
- petrol stations
- garden centres
- art galleries, where art is for sale or 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
- shoe repairs and key cutting
- travel agents
- ticket offices, for example 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 (such as the sale or 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 (for example because those other activities are insufficiently regular or frequent, such as a polling station or a fortnightly community event)
- there may be circumstances in which it is difficult to tell whether an activity is a performance of live music or, instead, the playing of recorded music. Although we would expect this would be clear in most circumstances, guidance on this may be found in Chapter 16 of the statutory guidance issued in April 2018 under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003
Hereditaments considered as assembly and leisure
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 considered hotels, guest and boarding premises, and self-catering accommodation
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
Non-eligible hereditaments
The following list sets out the types of uses that the government does not consider to be an eligible use for the purpose of this discount. It is for local authorities to determine for themselves whether particular properties are broadly similar in nature to those below and, if so, to consider them not eligible for the discount under their local scheme.
Hereditaments that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public:
- financial services, such as banks, building societies, cash points, bureaux de change, short-term loan providers, betting shops
- medical services, such as vets, dentists, doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors
- professional services, such as solicitors, accountants, insurance agents, financial advisers, employment agencies, estate agents, letting agents
- post office sorting offices
Hereditaments that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public.
The cash cap and subsidy control
Under the cash cap, no ratepayer can in any circumstances exceed the £110,000 cash cap across all of their hereditaments in England.
Where a ratepayer has a qualifying connection with another ratepayer then those ratepayers should be considered as one ratepayer for the purposes of the cash caps. A ratepayer shall be treated as having a qualifying connection with another:
- a. where both ratepayers are companies, and
- i. one is a subsidiary of the other, or
- ii. both are subsidiaries of the same company; or
- b. where only one ratepayer is a company, the other ratepayer (the “second ratepayer”) has such an interest in that company as would, if the second ratepayer were a company, result in its being the holding company of the other.
Furthermore, the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme is subject to the subsidies chapter within the UK EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The subsidies chapter within the TCA only applies to subsidies over the value of approximately £343,000 per beneficiary over a 3 year period (consisting of the current financial year and the two previous financial years) (the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit). Extended Retail Discounts granted in 2020 to 2021 or 2021 to 2022 do not count towards the limit. COVID-19 business grants received from local government and any other subsidy claimed under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit over the 3 year period should be counted.
Therefore, to claim the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief you must not have exceeded either the £110,000 cash cap for 2022 to 2023 or the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit of £343,000 over 3 years (including 2022 to 2023).
The award of this relief must comply with Subsidy rules. See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme 2023 to 2024
At the Budget on 17 November 2022, the Chancellor announced that eligible ratepayers will receive 75% relief on their business rates bills for the year 2023/24 up to a maximum cash cap of £110,000.
Relief will be provided to eligible occupied retail, hospitality and leisure properties in 2023/24. Your current rates bill includes this discount.
In line with the conditions set by the government, a ratepayer may only claim up to £110,000 of support under the 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme for all of their eligible hereditaments. This cash cap applies at a Group company level (so holding companies and subsidiaries cannot claim up to the cash cap for each company) and also to organisations which, although not a company, have such an interest in a company that they would, if they were a company, result in its being the holding company.
Furthermore, the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme is subject to the Minimal Financial Assistance limits under the Subsidy Control Act. This means no recipient can receive over £315,000 over a 3-year period (consisting of the current financial year and the 2 previous financial years). Extended Retail Discounts granted in 2021/22 do not count towards the limit. Covid business grants received from local government and any other subsidy claimed under the Minimal Financial Assistance or Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit over the 3-year period should be counted.
Therefore, to claim the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief you must not have exceeded either the £110,000 cash cap for 2023/24 or the Minimal Financial Assistance limit of £315,000 over 3 years (including 2023/24). Read further details of the cash cap and subsidy control.
You do not need to take any further action if you have not received any other 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief for premises other than the one to which this bill relates and you have not received more than the Minimal Financial Assistance limit of £315,000 over 3 years (including 2023/24).
The government and City Of York Council will not tolerate any business falsifying their records or providing false evidence to gain this discount, including claiming support above the cash cap or the exemption threshold. A ratepayer who falsely applies for any relief, or provides false information or makes false representation in order to gain relief may be guilty of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006.
Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme 2023 to 2024
At the Budget on 22 November 2023, the Chancellor announced that eligible ratepayers will receive 75% relief on their business rates bills for the year 2024/25 up to a maximum cash cap of £110,000.
Relief will be provided to eligible occupied retail, hospitality and leisure properties in 2024/25. Your current rates bill includes this discount.
In line with the conditions set by the government, a ratepayer may only claim up to £110,000 of support under the 2024/25 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme for all of their eligible hereditaments. This cash cap applies at a Group company level (so holding companies and subsidiaries cannot claim up to the cash cap for each company) and also to organisations which, although not a company, have such an interest in a company that they would, if they were a company, result in its being the holding company.
Furthermore, the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme is subject to the Minimal Financial Assistance limits under the Subsidy Control Act. This means no recipient can receive over £315,000 over a 3-year period (consisting of the current financial year and the 2 previous financial years). Extended Retail Discounts granted in 2021/22 do not count towards the limit. Covid business grants received from local government and any other subsidy claimed under the Minimal Financial Assistance or Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit over the 3-year period should be counted.
Therefore, to claim the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief you must not have exceeded either the £110,000 cash cap for 2023/24 or the Minimal Financial Assistance limit of £315,000 over 3 years (including 2024/25). Read further details of the cash cap and subsidy control.
You do not need to take any further action if you have not received any other 2024/25 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief for premises other than the one to which this bill relates and you have not received more than the Minimal Financial Assistance limit of £315,000 over 3 years (including 2024/25).
The government and City Of York Council will not tolerate any business falsifying their records or providing false evidence to gain this discount, including claiming support above the cash cap or the exemption threshold. A ratepayer who falsely applies for any relief, or provides false information or makes false representation in order to gain relief may be guilty of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006.
These changes will come into place on 1 April 2024
Relief for charities
Registered charities are entitled to relief from business rates on any 'non-domestic property' that is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes. This includes charity shops, provided that the goods sold are wholly or mainly donated.
Relief is given at 80% of the rate bill. To qualify:
- a registered charity or trustees for a registered charity must occupy the property
- the property must be used wholly or mainly for charitable purposes
Certain other organisations, such as universities, which are exempt from registration as a charity may also qualify for relief.
If the property is empty you can still claim rate relief if, when next in use, the property will be used wholly or mainly for charitable purposes. There is full relief for empty properties in this situation.
Charities can apply for mandatory relief by contacting the Business Rates Team.
You can also apply for Discretionary Rate Relief from the remaining 20% of your bill.
The award of this relief must comply with Subsidy rules. See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
See further information about business rates property exemptions and reliefs.
Relief for not-for-profit organisations
Discretionary relief can be granted for up to 100% of the rates charged to certain not-for-profit making bodies.
To be eligible the organisation must be a non-profit making body.
The property must be:
- used for charitable, philanthropic or religious purposes, or;
- concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts, or;
- used wholly or mainly for recreation by a not-for-profit club or society (with objectives which are broadly charitable)
The award of this relief must comply with Subsidy rules. See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
Community amateur sports clubs
Registered community amateur sports clubs can receive 80% rate relief.
To qualify as a community amateur sports club (CASC) your sports club must be occupied by the charity or club and be wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes or as a registered community amateur sports club.
To apply for relief you must first register as a CASC. See further information on registering as a CASC (GOV.UK).
If the property is empty you can still claim rate relief if, when next in use, it will be used by a CASC. There is full relief for an empty property in this situation.
You can also apply for top up discretionary rate relief from the remaining 20% of your bill.
The award of this relief must comply with Subsidy rules. See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
See further information about business rates property exemptions and reliefs.
Rural rate relief
Certain types of business in rural settlements with a population below 3,000 may qualify for 50% rate relief.
To qualify the property must be occupied and be the only:
- general store, post office or food shop with a rateable value of less than £8,500
- public house or petrol filling station with a rateable value of less than £12,500
In addition, we also have discretion to give up to 100% relief to any other business with a rateable value less than £16,500 in a rural settlement with a population below 3,000, if we're satisfied that the business is of benefit to the community, with regard to the interests of its council tax payers.
For more information on this scheme, and to make an application, download the rural rate relief application form.
The award of this relief must comply with Subsidy rules. See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
Discretionary rate relief
There are 2 types of business rate relief: mandatory and discretionary.
The Local Government Finance Act 1988 requires local authorities to grant mandatory rate relief to the following categories of business rates payer:
- registered charities
- village post offices, general stores, specialist food shops, public houses and petrol filling stations – where they are in a designated rural settlement
- registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)
The Local Government Finance Act 1988 gives local authorities the power to grant discretionary rate relief as follows:
- to make a further award on top of mandatory relief to those categories listed above
- in respect of sports grounds and clubs
- to other non-profit making organisations
- to other rural businesses situated within a designated rural settlement
Discretionary rate relief can be awarded for a maxim period of 2 years. The awards are made on an annual basis by elected council members within the constraints of the budget available in any one year.
The award of this relief must comply with Subsidy rules. See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
Relief for local newspapers
The Government is providing funding to local authorities so that they can provide a discount worth up to £1,500 a year on office space occupied by local newspapers. This scheme provides up to a maximum of 1 discount per local newspaper title and per hereditament, and up to subsidy limits.
The relief will be delivered through local authority discretionary discount powers (under section 47(3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988).
In a Written Ministerial Statement on 27 January 2020 the Government announced that the extension of the £1,500 business rates discount for office space occupied by local newspapers, will apply for an additional 5 years until 31st March 2025.
An eligibility criterion for this relief is set out in a guidance note: The case for a business rates relief for local newspapers.
See further information regarding relief for local newspapers (GOV.UK).
Discretionary revaluation relief
At the Spring Budget 2017, it was announced that a discretionary fund of £300 million has been made available nationally. It's payable over 4 years to enable billing authorities to support those facing the steepest increases in their business rates following 2017 revaluation.
The transitional relief scheme already limits increases to bills due to the revaluation; however, the government have decided that local authorities can grant further relief to those most affected at their discretion.
Every billing authority in England has been provided with a share of £300 million to support their local businesses. The responsibility of determining how this fund should be allocated to support businesses and the local economy was passed on to local authorities.
We have identified eligible accounts and have automatically applied this relief. If you believe you may be eligible, but have not received a revised bill reflecting the award of discretionary revaluation relief, please contact the Business Rates Team.
See further details of the discretionary revaluation relief scheme.
Relief for businesses losing Small Business or Rural Rate Relief following 2017 re-valuation
In the Spring Budget 2017, the Chancellor announced that a scheme of Relief would be made available to those ratepayers losing Small Business or Rural Rate Relief as a result of the 2017 revaluation will have their increases limited to the greater of either:
- a cash value of £600 per year, or
- the matching cap on increases for small properties in the transitional relief scheme
This relief will run for 5 years to 31 March 2022 and ratepayers will receive the relief until this date or they reach what their bill would have been within the relief scheme, whichever is first.
The award of this relief must comply with Subsidy rules. See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
Acomb business development district
The Acomb area of York has been identified as a Business Development District from August 2014.
If you are looking to occupy an empty property in Acomb you may be eligible to additional business rate relief.
Hardship relief
Councils may grant relief to a ratepayer who would suffer hardship if they paid the whole of the rates bill. As this relief is partly funded by the local council, we will usually only grant this relief where it is evident that it is in the interests of the community that the ratepayer remains in business if either of the following apply:
- they provide a unique, regularly required amenity, such as a village general store
- the loss of employment provided by a ratepayer would be severely damaging to the local community
Before we'll consider granting this relief you will need to provide:
- a written request for hardship relief
- copies of audited accounts
See our guidelines for business rates relief on grounds of hardship.
The award of this relief must comply with Subsidy rules. See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
Transitional Relief Scheme
For those that would otherwise see significant increases in their rates liability, the government has put in place a £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme to limit and phase in changes in rate bills as a result of the 2017 revaluation.
To help pay for the limits on increases in bills, there also have to be limits in reductions in bills. Under the transition scheme, limits continue to apply to yearly increases and decreases until the full amount is due (rateable value times the appropriate multiplier). The scheme applies only to the bill based on a premises at the time of the revaluation.
Property values normally change a good deal between each revaluation, so transitional relief arrangements help to phase-in the effects of these changes on ratepayers' bills. Large rises are restricted so businesses are not suddenly asked to pay much larger amounts and this is offset by limiting big gains where businesses would have to pay significantly less.
If there are any changes to the rateable value after 1 April 2017, transitional arrangements will not normally apply to the part of a bill that relates to any increase or decrease due to those changes. Changes to your bill as a result of other reasons (such as changes to the amount of small business rate relief) are not covered by the transitional arrangements.
We will automatically calculate any transitional relief against your business rates bill, there is no need to apply for it.
See further information about the Transitional Relief Scheme (GOV.UK).
Transitional Relief 2023
Transitional relief limits how much your bill can change each year as a result of business rates revaluation. This means changes to your bill are phased in gradually, if you’re eligible.
From the 2023 to 2024 tax year you’ll get transitional relief if your:
- property is in England
- rates go up by more than a certain amount
We'll adjust your bill automatically if you’re eligible.
How much your bill can change by from one year to the next depends on both:
- your property’s rateable value
- whether your bill is increasing or decreasing as a result of revaluation
You stop getting transitional relief when your bill reaches the full amount set by a revaluation.
The business rates year is from 1 April to 31 March the following year.
If your bill is increasing from 1 April 2023 then you can find out more about your rateable value in this table.
| Rateable value | 2023 to 2024 | 2024 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) | 5% | 10% plus inflation |
| £20,001 (£28,001 in London) to £100,000 | 15% | 25% plus inflation |
| Over £100,000 | 30% | 40% plus inflation |
Transitional certificates
A transitional certificate value may be used in the business rates calculation for your property instead of the usual rateable value.
If you disagree with the value of the certificate, contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).
Extension of Transitional Relief and Supporting Small Business Relief for small and medium properties
At the Budget on 27 October 2021 the government announced that it would extend the current transitional relief scheme and the supporting small business scheme for 1 year to the end of the current revaluation cycle. The scheme will restrict increases in bills to 15% for businesses with small properties (up to and including £20,000 rateable value) and 25% for medium properties (up to and including £100,000 rateable value).
Properties that will benefit are those with a rateable value up to and including £100,000 who would have received transitional relief and/or Supporting Small Business Relief in 2022 to 2023. In line with the existing thresholds in the transitional relief scheme, the £100,000 rateable value threshold should be based on the rateable value shown for 1 April 2017 or the substituted day in the cases of splits and mergers.
This policy does not apply to those in downward transition to lower bills, they will fall to their full bill on 1 April 2022.
The government will fund discretionary relief to ensure eligible properties receive the same level of protection they would have received had the statutory transitional relief scheme and Supporting Small Business Relief scheme extended into 2022 to 23.
See further information about the Extension of Transitional Relief and Supporting Small Business Relief for small and medium properties Transitional Relief Scheme (GOV.UK).
Properties in partial occupation
If your business is only using part of a property with the rest completely unused for a short period of time, we may be able to give a temporary discount.
After applying, a member of our business rates team may visit your property to see if you're eligible for the discount.
If you're eligible then the Valuation Office Agency will issue a certificate to show the rateable value of the occupied and unoccupied parts of the property. This will be used to decide your new bill.
See further information about business rates property exemptions and reliefs.
Subsidies, formerly State Aid
Following the UK withdrawal from the European Union, the Brexit transition period has ended and new rules on subsidy control now apply. Subsidies have replaced State Aid.
A subsidy is given by a public authority. This can be at any level: central, devolved, regional or local government or a public body.
A subsidy makes a contribution (this could be a financial or an in kind contribution) to an enterprise, conferring an economic advantage that is not available on market terms. Examples of a contribution are grants, loans at below market rate, or a loan guarantee at below market rate or allowing a company to use publicly owned office space rent free. An enterprise is anyone who puts goods or services on a market. An enterprise could be a government department or a charity if they are acting commercially.
A subsidy affects international trade. This can be trade with any World Trade Organisation member or, more specifically, between the UK and a country with whom it has a Free Trade Agreement. For example, if the subsidy is going towards a good which is traded between the UK and the EU this could affect trade between the EU and the UK. Please note that you are not being asked whether the subsidy could harm trade but merely whether there could be some sort of effect. Subsidies to very local companies or a small tourist attraction are unlikely to be caught as this is unlikely to affect international trade.
See further information regarding Subsidies (GOV.UK).
COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund
On 25 March 2021 the Government announced a new COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF) of £1.5 billion. The fund will be available to support those businesses affected by the pandemic but that are ineligible for existing support linked to business rates.
In order to be eligible for CARF relief you must:
- not have been eligible for, or in receipt of;
- Extended Retail Discount
- Nursery Discount
- Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) for 2021 to 2022
- be in occupation of your premises (other than when closed due to COVID-19 government guidance)
- have been adversely affected by the pandemic
- have been trading on 31 December 2021
- comply with the UK’s domestic and international subsidy control obligations
The value of the relief will be applied to the 2021 to 2022 financial year.
Applications for the CARF scheme closed at 5.00pm on 16 September 2022.
If you wish to make an application for CARF, please contact the Economic Growth Team:
Economic Growth Team
West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA
Email: economicgrowth@york.gov.uk.
Low-carbon Heat Relief
At Autumn Budget 2021, the Government announced new measures to support green investment and the decarbonisation of buildings, to apply from April 2023.
The second measure was a 100% relief for eligible low-carbon heat networks which have their own rates bill. Guidance for local authorities on the heat networks relief will be published by DLUHC over the Spring/Summer. The relief will be backdated to 1 April 2022.
At the Spring Statement on 23 March, the Chancellor announced that the Government would bring forward this investment in energy efficiency and clean heat to support the security of energy supply. These measures will therefore come into effect one year earlier than previously planned and be implemented from April 2022.
We will look to implement this as soon as possible, once guidance is released.
Improvement Relief 2024
The government has announced a new relief to support investment in property improvements. The measure will be introduced in 2024, and will be reviewed in 2028 (end date 2029).
To receive the improvement relief, ratepayers will need to demonstrate that their property meets 2 conditions:
- the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) must be satisfied that the improvements meet the definition of qualifying works - the 'qualifying works' condition, and
- the relevant local billing authority must be satisfied that in the period since the qualifying works commenced the property has remained occupied and that the ratepayer has not changed - the occupation condition.
Once the VOA is satisfied that the qualifying works condition has been met then it will issue a certificate of the increase in rateable value which is attributable to any works falling within the meaning of qualifying works. Certificates will specify dates.
The billing authority will then apply the relief using the certificate but only if the occupation condition has been met.
The government does not wish any ratepayer who has undertaken qualifying works to see an increase in their bill for 12 months as a result.
The scheme will support businesses wishing to invest in their property. It will also ensure that no ratepayer will face higher business rates bills for 12 months as a result of qualifying improvements to a property they occupy. The Non-Domestic Rating Bill currently before Parliament contains powers to allow for the Improvement Relief Scheme.