Business rates in England will change again from 1 April 2027, with five new annual multipliers and wider relief for qualifying pubs and smaller retail, hospitality and leisure properties. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the exact figures and a technical implementation letter on Wednesday 28 October 2026, alongside the Budget.
The government has confirmed a 35% relief for qualifying pubs, social clubs and most live music venues in both 2027/28 and 2028/29. A further change lifts the rateable value threshold for full Small Business Rates Relief on eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties to £18,000, with a taper ending at £21,000. These are future measures, not relief already available on a 2026/27 bill. I would keep the rating and planning questions separate, because they are governed by different rules.
For people acquiring shops, converting commercial premises, repairing vacant buildings or assessing a mixed-use scheme, the details matter. The rateable value, actual occupier and rating classification can influence annual running costs, but business rates eligibility is a separate question from whether a proposed use has planning permission.
Business rates multipliers for 2027/28
The business rates multipliers announced for 2027/28 are 49.7p for the standard non-domestic multiplier, 44.7p for the small business non-domestic multiplier, 44.7p for the standard retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier, 39.7p for the small business retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier, and 52.5p for the high-value non-domestic multiplier. Each is expressed in pence per pound of rateable value.
These are not five alternative discounts that every ratepayer can choose between. The relevant multiplier depends on the property and the statutory eligibility rules. Relief, transitional arrangements and changes in rateable value can then alter the final bill. Owners and occupiers comparing locations should not treat a headline multiplier as a guaranteed effective tax rate.
The figures were published in the government’s business rates information letter 8/2026. The letter is addressed to English billing authorities and is not a statement of the multipliers applying in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Higher relief thresholds for high-street businesses
The revised Small Business Rates Relief thresholds apply to qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England. Under the proposed changes, an eligible property with a rateable value of up to £18,000 could receive 100% relief, with that relief tapering evenly to zero at £21,000. The higher thresholds are intended to apply through to 31 March 2029 and be reviewed at the next revaluation.
The existing £12,000 full-relief and £15,000 tapered-relief thresholds remain relevant to other properties that do not qualify for the new retail, hospitality and leisure treatment. It would therefore be wrong to tell every small business that its full-relief threshold has risen to £18,000.
The technical annex also proposes a single £29,999 aggregate threshold across England for certain second and subsequent properties considered when assessing Small Business Rates Relief on the main property. That detail may matter to a small operator with more than one shop or workspace, but it does not mean every additional property automatically qualifies.
Pubs and live music venues move towards 35% relief
Pubs, social clubs and most live music venues are due to receive an additional 20 percentage points of business rates relief on top of the 15% support already introduced for 2026/27, taking the stated relief to 35% for 2027/28 and 2028/29. The extra support was signalled in July; the Budget letter now sets out the implementation detail.
The largest live music venues are treated differently. Under the announced plan, venues with a rateable value of £1 million or more retain the existing 15% relief rather than receiving the increase to 35%. Eligibility for a pub or live music venue also depends on the specific rating rules, not merely the name used by its operator.
For planning purposes, operators considering a change from a former shop to a pub or entertainment venue still need to consider the planning change-of-use rules and any separate licensing or noise constraints. A potentially better rates bill cannot confer planning permission, and a lawful planning use does not itself settle rating relief eligibility.
The two-year real-terms bill freeze
Another material part of the business rates package is a two-year real-terms freeze for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties, including eligible pubs and music venues, running to 31 March 2029. The government says bills covered by that protection will be limited to increases reflecting Consumer Prices Index inflation, rather than unrestricted rises under the usual calculation.
This protection has important qualifications. The technical annex says qualification is tested against the property’s circumstances on 1 April in each relevant year. A property unoccupied on that date cannot qualify for this particular freeze, and changes in rateable value caused by improvements or the loss of some other reliefs can sit outside the protection. It is not a blanket promise that every landlord’s business rates costs will remain fixed.
The existing one-penny Transitional Relief Supplement is also due to continue for two further years, with changes required to the 2026 chargeable-amount regulations. This matters to occupiers whose bills are limited by transitional protection, because several rules can interact before the actual amount payable is calculated.
Vape shops and gaming centres treated differently
The government intends to remove Small Business Rates Relief from vape shops, and to remove access to the preferential retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers from vape shops and adult gaming centres. The technical annex draws a distinction: eligible adult gaming centres may retain ordinary Small Business Rates Relief under the existing £12,000 and £15,000 thresholds, even though they lose access to the retail, hospitality and leisure treatment.
Detailed definitions of the excluded premises have not yet been published. Mixed-use premises, a shop selling a range of products, and a venue combining different activities may require more careful classification than the description on its shopfront suggests.
This makes accurate use evidence important, but rating and planning remain different legal systems. An existing Class E commercial use or a temporary use through a high street rental auction does not by itself determine whether the premises meet the rating relief test.
Business rates avoidance and council legal costs
The government has also promised a General Anti-Avoidance Rule for business rates, following consultation with businesses and local authorities this winter. It has not made that rule yet, and the precise reach of any future enforcement powers is still unknown.
From 1 April 2027, ministers also intend to reimburse English councils’ reasonable external legal costs when they lose test litigation raising a point of law, subject to further guidance on which costs qualify. That is a litigation funding policy rather than a new planning enforcement power.
For owners of vacant high-street property, rates exposure should be considered alongside repairs, security and the planning consequences of bringing a building back into use. A local authority may separately use powers such as a Section 215 notice for untidy land. Those powers should not be confused with the rating system.
What is law, and what is still promised?
The 28 October letter is unusually useful because it spells out which legal instruments are intended to change. The government plans amendments to the 2025 regulations defining qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties and the 2026 chargeable-amount regulations. I have checked their currently published text, including the existing definition of qualifying premises and the transitional charging provisions.
The distinction between law and policy is essential. These are announced changes for April 2027, not provisions that the 28 October letter itself brings into legal effect. The Ministry says the detail will be published in regulations and guidance in the coming weeks
. Until then, advisers must assess current liabilities under the existing framework.
Budget 2026 also points to further reform of business rates after the call for evidence on investment and valuation. Those longer-term questions, including the treatment of large infrastructure properties, should not be mistaken for a final decision to overhaul the whole valuation methodology this evening.
Why planning and property advisers should check separately
For a proposed shop, pub, restaurant or other commercial development, I would separate the checks into three parts. First, identify the lawful planning use and any permission or condition affecting the proposed operation. Second, check the actual rating assessment and rateable value, including whether there has been a split, merger or improvement. Third, test eligibility for the specific relief and transitional protections expected on the intended occupation date.
That approach avoids a common and potentially expensive error: assuming that a change of planning use will automatically secure a lower business rates bill. The Budget 2026 and the government’s business rates investment response provide the wider policy setting, but the 28 October ministry letter is the clearest primary source for the new multipliers and thresholds.
Further reporting will be justified when the amending regulations are actually made or when guidance resolves material eligibility questions. Merely repeating this Budget announcement before those new documents appear would add little for property owners or planning practitioners.
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