On pages 5 to 7 of the Guidance, the Ministry set out which businesses will meet the definition of being included within Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sectors for the purposes of the Expanded Retail Discount for business rates purposes. Presumably, the same criteria will be used when Local Authorities start issuing grants under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant scheme.

Which properties will benefit from relief? 

10. Properties that will benefit from the relief will be occupied hereditaments that are wholly or mainly being used:
a. as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues,
b. for assembly and leisure; or
c. as hotels, guest & boarding premises and self-catering accommodation.

11. We consider shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues to mean:

i. Hereditaments that are being used for the sale of goods to be visiting
members of the public:
− Shops (such as: florists, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, jewellers, stationers, off licences, chemists, newsagents, hardware stores, supermarkets, etc)
− Charity shops
− Opticians
− Post offices
− Furnishing shops/ display rooms (such as: carpet shops, double glazing, garage doors)
− Car/caravan show rooms
− Second-hand car lots
− Markets
− Petrol stations
− Garden centres
− Art galleries (where art is for sale/hire)

ii. Hereditaments that are being used for the provision of the following services to be visiting members of the public:

− Hair and beauty services (such as: hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops, etc)
− Shoe repairs/key cutting
− Travel agents
− Ticket offices e.g., for theatre
− Dry cleaners
− Launderettes
− PC/TV/domestic appliance repair
− Funeral directors
− Photo processing
− Tool hire
− Car hire
− Employment agencies
− Estate agents and letting agents
− Betting shops

iii. 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

iv. Hereditaments which are being used as cinemas

v. 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 (e.g. the sale/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 (e.g. 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 2003.2

12. We consider assembly and leisure to mean:

i. 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

ii. Hereditaments that are being used for the assembly of visiting members of the public.

− Public halls
− Clubhouses, clubs and institutions

13. We consider hotels, guest & boarding premises and self-catering accommodation to mean:

i. 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

14. To qualify for the relief the hereditament should be wholly or mainly being used for the above 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. For the avoidance of doubt, hereditaments which have closed temporarily due to the government’s advice on COVID19 should be treated as occupied for the purposes of this relief.

15. The list set out above is not intended to be exhaustive as it would be impossible to list the many and varied uses that exist within the qualifying purposes. There will also be mixed uses. However, it is 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 above and, if so, to consider them eligible for the relief. Conversely, properties that are not broadly similar in nature to those listed above should not be eligible for the relief.

We have still to find out how the Government will define a ‘small business’ for the purposes of the Small Business Grant Fund.

Local accountants and tax advisers, Trueman Brown, deliver services vital to small business. Please contact us for any assistance.