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The government have provided further details of the two grant schemes announced in the Budget and extended on 17th March: these are now referred to as the Small Business Grant (SBG) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant (RHLG).
The Grants will be administered by Local Authorities which will then be reimbursed by the government along with support for the cost of delivering the Grants.
No timetable has been set for the provision of the Grants to businesses and this is expected to vary from one Local Authority to the next. Businesses in urgent need of financial support should contact their Local Authority.
SBG of £10,000 are available to all businesses in England in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) and Rural Rates Relief (RRR) under the business rates system.
SBRR applies to businesses with a rateable value of less than £15,000 (with additional limits if there are multiple properties) and RRR applies to certain properties in rural areas with a population below 3,000. Further details on SBRR is available at https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/small-business-rate-relief and on RRR at https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/rural-rate-relief
RHLG of £10,000 and £25,000 are available to businesses in England with a rateable value of less than £15,000 and £15,001-£50,999 respectively.
Business with a rateable value of £51,000 or over are not eligible for RHLG nor are businesses which are not ratepayers in the business rates system.
The Grants are not available to premises occupied for personal use which includes use as private stables, loose boxes, beach huts and moorings, and are also not available for car parks and parking spaces.
Grants are payable to the persons recorded as the ratepayer and the eligible businesses must not have been in liquidation or dissolved as of 11 March 2020.
The rateable value limits are those in force at 11 March 2020 and any changes to the rating list (rateable value or to the hereditament) after the 11 March 2020, including changes which have been backdated to this date, should be ignored for the purposes of eligibility.
The detailed guidance issued by the government on the Grants is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding?utm_source=2a9a1b51-e733-4f91-8c5e-79efae582edd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Businesses which are eligible for the RHLG include hereditaments that are wholly or mainly being used:
Local Authorities will determine for themselves whether particular businesses or properties fall within the above definitions however the government has provided a non-exhaustive lists of businesses which fall within these definitions as well as businesses and uses such financial, medical or professional services which are not expected to fall within the guidelines. These lists are set out at the end of this article.
Those businesses which are not set out in the lists but which consider they should be eligible for the RHLG should contact their Local Authority to determine whether they are to receive the RHLG.
The following non-exhaustive lists of businesses and uses (set out in alphabetical order which are expected to qualify for the RHLG are set out in the government guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-retail-discount-guidance
The government guidelines also set out businesses and uses such as financial, medical or professional services which are not expected to fall within the guidelines for RHLG including:
Amanda graduated from Brunel University, with a joint honours degree, achieving a BSC and BA degree in Leisure Management and Television and film studies. Amanda started her career in a customer service role before joining the hotel group Le Meridien as an Events coordinator, she was in the hotel industry for seven years and during her time won an award from a major international airline for her outstanding attitude and dedication to customer service, which she achieved while working for the Rezidor hotel group in the position of Airline Crew Manager. Amanda has over 20 years experience in customer relations and event management.
