NTIA Blasts Treasury Over 81% Hike On Surviving Pubs And Hidden Tax Raid On Nightlife

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has today issued an urgent ultimatum to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, warning that the 2026 business rates revaluation will be the “final curtain call” for thousands of venues.

Analysis of the 2026 VOA figures, exclusively provided by the Pubs Advisory Service, reveals a “higher tax on fewer doors” strategy that is strangling the life out of the night-time economy. Despite a 15% drop in the number of pubs since 2017, the collective Rateable Value (RV) has surged to a record £1.67 billion.

The Pub Crisis: A “40%” Cliff-Edge

For the UK’s remaining 39,661 pubs, the upcoming cycle represents a seismic shift in fixed costs. Over 15,600 venues are bracing for a valuation hike of more than 40%, while the safety net of Small Business Rates Relief is “evaporating.”

The Nightclub Collapse: Taxation Without Representation

The data for nightclubs and bars (VOA categories 199 and 303) is even more harrowing. In the Nightclub & Discotheque Business Rates category specifically, the sector has contracted by 32% since 2017. Yet, incredibly, the total tax base has actually increased since the pandemic.

• -2017: 1,831 nightclubs with a total RV of £65.4m.
• -2026: Just 1,241 nightclubs remaining, yet the total RV has ballooned to £69.4m.

“The Treasury is valuing nightclubs at over 56% more BUT from a third fewer sites,” says the NTIA. “There is no evidence of the ‘Covid reductions’ that were promised; instead, the average nightclub valuation has jumped from £35,725 to nearly £56,000.”

Michael Kill, CEO of the NTIA said:
“This data is the smoking gun that proves the current business rates system is a predatory tax on survival. We are witnessing a massive redistribution of the tax burden onto a diminishing number of businesses. For the ‘Increase Group’ of pubs, we are seeing a staggering 81% rise in taxable value.

“To see the total Rateable Value of nightclubs actually rise while we lose nearly 600 venues is a mathematical absurdity and a moral failure. The Chancellor is presiding over the hollowing out of British culture. This model is untenable, and without an immediate reversal of this valuation spike, the 2026 revaluation will be remembered as the moment the government turned the lights out on the UK night-time economy.”

Sacha Lord, Chair of the NTIA said:
“The ‘Small Pub’ buffer is dead. Nearly 8,000 community locals have been revalued out of full relief, meaning their overheads have exploded at a time when they are already fighting inflation and wage hikes.

“As for our clubs, the VOA’s figures are a work of fiction. I fail to see where clubs got any meaningful Covid reductions in their RVs; instead, they are being squeezed for every penny as they disappear from our high streets. We are calling on Rachel Reeves to act before the Spring Statement. We need a permanent hospitality-specific multiplier and a complete overhaul of how ‘Fair Maintainable Trade’ is calculated. You cannot fund the Treasury on the back of a dying industry.”

Chris Wright, CEO of the Pubs Advisory Service said:
“The VOA data shows nightclub values have, according to the VOA, grown by an unbelievable 56% in 9 years. Even when you look past the COVID-19 slump, this supposed 6.22% annual growth for 9 years is completely unsupported by any real-world data when looking at the commercial rental market or economic growth for the same period.”