Reeves said her measures would reduce business rates for “over 750,000” high street businesses, promising the "lowest rates since 1991", but analysis by the Treasury suggests only 23% will see their bills go down.
Full written details of Reeves's Budget measures have now been published, with the government saying lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties will be worth “nearly £900 million a year”.
RHL rate multipliers will be 5p below their national equivalents, making the small business RHL multiplier 38.2p and the standard RHL multiplier 43p in 2026-27. The government said: “Small and standard RHL properties will pay the lowest tax rate since 1990/91 and 2010/11 respectively.”
To fund this, a higher rate on the most valuable properties – those with rateable values of £500,000 and above – is being introduced, impacting “around 1% of properties”. The high-value multiplier will be 50.8p in 2026/27.
The government said that following revaluation, “all ratepayers will pay a lower tax rate than they do now”, with the small business multiplier falling to 43.2p and the standard multiplier 48p. “At this revaluation, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down.”
For those seeing bill increases, “reflecting many sectors’ post-Covid recovery”, the government is providing a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years.
This includes a Supporting Small Business scheme to help the smallest businesses “worth over £500 million”. There is also a £3.2 billion Transitional Relief scheme for the largest ratepayers, including airports.
In addition, the Supporting Small Business scheme will be expanded to businesses that were eligible for RHL relief as they transition to the new tax rates. “This additional support is worth £1.3 billion," the government added.
