Welsh Government Brings In £8 Million Of Business Rates Support To 4,400 Hospitality Businesses
The Welsh Government has announced this week an £8 million additional support package for approximately 4,400 hospitality businesses under the ‘Non-Domestic Rates – Food and Drink Hospitality Rates Relief for 2026/27’.
This follows the 15% ‘pub and live music venue relief’ announced for England at the end of last month.
Unlike in England, the Welsh Government has extended the package to provide support to more hospitality businesses such as restaurants and cafes- properties which are being used ‘wholly or mainly’ for the sale of food and/or drink to visiting members of the public. As such they have announced that 15% relief will be provided to pubs, restaurants, cafes, bars, and live music venues in 2026/27.
However unlike in England, this relief is limited to 2026/27and nor has the Welsh Government stated that business rates will be frozen for 2027/28 or 2028/29.
Relief will also be capped at £110,000 per business (including subsidiaries) across Wales. The government has also advised that the relief is ‘likely to be a subsidy’ and thus we can assume will be subject to subsidy control as previous RHL relief has been. This differs to the scheme in England which has expressly stated it is not capped nor subject to subsidy control.
The guidance also states the properties that are not considered eligible for relief, and these include:
- Those subject to the retail multiplier (i.e. shops, pharmacies, post office)
- Hotels, guest and boarding houses, caravan parks
- Shops, supermarkets, showrooms
- Providing services to visiting members of the public (i.e. financial or professional services such as salons)
- Sports centres, visitor attractions, clubhouses, public halls
- Not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public
- Empty properties
The relief will be awarded by local authorities following applications from eligible ratepayers after 1 April 2026. Applications must be made by 31 March 2027. As the relief is a temporary measure, it is being delivered by local authorities using their discretionary powers and it is for each individual local authority to administer.
John Webber, Head of Business Rates at Colliers said,
“It is interesting that Wales has followed a different path to England where only pubs and live venues are to receive relief and we welcome the broader approach. However, we query why reliefs will only apply to this next year, when it is in year 2 and 3 of the list that businesses will face the most pain. Pubs and restaurants either side of the border could therefore be receiving very different relief support in the years to come. The capping of the relief and subjection to subsidy control also means only the smaller operators will benefit as opposed to the bigger chains.”
He adds, “And yet again it is disappointing that hotels have been left out of any relief package since as a sector they are one of the biggest “losers” from the 2026 Revaluation with rateable values increasing more than any other sector.”
“This announcement also only relates to Wales and does not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland. Whilst we are waiting for information from the Scottish, in Northern Ireland, the finance minister has just announced a pause of the 2026 Revaluation process- a sure sign he is worried about a repeat of the “pub debacle” we saw in England and an admission that the government had got things wrong.
Webber added, “ And so much for Labour’s promise it would simplify the business rates system. On top of these different relief systems, we also now have a more complicated multiplier system with 13 different multipliers in England and Wales alone and three in Scotland.
The whole thing is a bureaucratic and complicated mess, likely to push businesses into the arms of rogue agents who will promise to “simplify” and sort things out. This is not good for UK business and certainly not the growth agenda.”