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Autumn Budget announcements affecting Business Rates

The Government has announced several changes to Business Rates as part of the 2026 Budget which will take effect from 1 April 2027.

What is changing?

Small Business Rates Relief for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses

The Government has announced that the Small Business Rates Relief threshold for retail, hospitality and leisure properties will increase from £12,000 to £18,000 rateable value, with the taper increasing from £15,000 to £21,000 rateable value.

Additional support for pubs, music venues, and social clubs

An extra 20% reduction in Business Rates will be available for eligible pubs, live music venues, and social clubs.

Business Rates frozen for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses

A real-terms freeze for two years until 31st March 2029. Eligible properties will have their business rates bills capped by CPI inflation in 2027/28 and 2028/29. This does not apply to increases in rateable values resulting from improvements, or losses in other reliefs such as improvement relief or hardship relief post 1st April 2026

Supporting Small Business Relief extended

The Supporting Small Business (SSB) scheme for businesses who were eligible for the 2023 Supporting Small Business Relief scheme will continue for a further year until 31 March 2028, providing protection for businesses facing significant increases in their rates liability. The 2026 Supporting Small Business Relief scheme will continue until 31 March 2029.

Changes for vape shops and adult gaming centres

From April 2027, vape shops and adult gaming centres will no longer qualify for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure support measures. Vape shops will also become ineligible for Small Business Rates Relief.
Transitional Relief Supplement (TRS)

The 1p supplement was introduced alongside the redesigned Transitional Relief scheme and will be extended for a further two years to help fund the wider RHL support package.

The future Non-Domestic Rating Multipliers for 2027/28

The government has advised they will be:

What do I need to do?

You do not need to take any action currently.

Fareham Borough Council is awaiting detailed guidance from the Government and will automatically apply any reliefs or discounts where legislation permits.

Further information

We will update this page as soon as further guidance and regulations are published by the Government.
If you are a Business Rates payer and would like to receive updates, please continue to check this page for the latest information.