Retail rate relief

You could qualify for retail discount if your business is: 

• a shop, restaurant, café, drinking establishment, cinema, live music venue, hotel, guest and boarding premises, self-catering accommodation, used for assembly and leisure 
• in England 

You can receive a retail discount on top of any other business rates relief for which you may be eligible. 

From 2022/2023 to 2025/2026 entitlement to retail relief is up to a maximum of £110,000 cash cap, per business. 

The retail discount scheme does need to comply with the UK’s domestic and international subsidy control obligations. 

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) from April 2026

The government has ended the retail discount on 31 March 2026 and introduced 2 lower business rates multipliers Business Rates Multipliers: Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure - GOV.UK for RHL properties (hereditaments) with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000:

• small business RHL multiplier – for RHL hereditaments with RVs under £51,000 there is a multiplier: 38.2p
• standard RHL multiplier – for RHL hereditaments with RVs between £51,000 and £499,999 there is a multiplier: 43.0p

In summary, to qualify for a RHL multiplier for RVs up to £499,999 the following must apply:

There is a ‘retail purpose’ (retail sale or hire of goods, or the provision of a service), a ‘hospitality purpose’ (sale of food and drink, or the provision of holiday or similar temporary accommodation), and a ‘leisure purpose’ (cultural, community or recreational facilities).

The RHL multipliers are intended to only benefit hereditaments that are used to provide in-person RHL. The definition can therefore only be met if a hereditament is wholly or mainly used for providing RHL activity to ‘visiting members of the public’.

Before you start

Apply if:

• you are not getting the retail discount already, as the discount is usually given automatically
• your business property is not empty

You will need

• business rates account number

What happens next

We will either reduce the bill or let you know why we can’t. 

We aim to give you an answer within 20 working days. Please check My transactions for updates.

Email businessratesteam@ealing.gov.uk to apply for retail relief.