Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to give councils more control over the funds generated from business rates from their respective areas.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local Authorities already retain a significant share of business rates income. At Autumn Budget 2025, the government extended existing 100% business rates retention pilots in Cornwall, the West of England, and Liverpool City Region for a further three years, to 2028-29. The government is also developing further proposals for fiscal devolution for Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Further details will be set out through the fiscal devolution roadmap at Autumn Budget 2026.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a hybrid business rate which combines a reduced property business rate with a modest digital business rate levied on online sales using the existing VAT system.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has already started reforming the Business Rates system. At Budget, the government introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties.
The government is paying for this through a high-value multiplier on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. This includes many large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants. The high-value multiplier is 33 per cent more than the multiplier for small RHL properties.
This is in addition to the support package, worth £4.3 billion, that the government introduced at Budget to protect ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills. As a result, over half of ratepayers see no bill increases in 2026/27, including 23 per cent whose bills go down
In addition, the government has announced that pubs, clubs and live music venues will benefit from 20% relief from April 2027 on top of the 15% relief and 2-year real-terms freeze in bills announced earlier this year.
Regarding a tax levied on online sales, while tax policy is kept under review, evidence received from a consultation in spring 2022 under the previous Government on the case for an Online Sales Tax suggested that such a tax would have been extremely complex to design and implement and create undue administrative burden for businesses. This included challenges of defining the boundaries between online and in-store retail, including ‘Click and Collect’ orders. Stakeholders also expected it would lead to higher prices for consumers.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the impact of the introduction of a land value tax on (1) residents, (2) the local economy, and (3) house prices, in central London.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The current UK property taxes are an important source of revenue for both the Exchequer and Local Authorities. They raise over £75 billion each year to help pay for essential public services. Any reforms to the property tax system would need to carefully consider positive or negative implications for the Exchequer, Local Government finances, taxpayers and the wider economy. The government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the proposed overnight visitor levy will go to local authorities; and what assessment they have made of the potential effects of the levy on the hospitality and hotel sectors.
Answered by Lord Livermore
Mayors will decide whether to introduce a levy and, if so, will consult on specific proposals, including how revenue will be used to support growth. This will help them to find an appropriate balance between supporting local economic priorities, including tourism, ensuring a levy is affordable, and providing stability and certainty for businesses. Impacts will depend on local decisions and we expect Mayors to publish a summary of the consultation results and their response, including a final prospectus, and an impact assessment.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many property sales in London, broken down by borough, have been subject to stamp duty since July 2024.
Answered by Lord Livermore
The table below contains the number of completed residential and non-residential property purchases by London borough that were subject to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) with a chargeable consideration over £40,000 from 1 July 2024 to 3 October 2025.
London Borough | Number of transactions with an SDLT liability | Total number of transactions |
Barking and Dagenham | 1,820 | 3,560 |
Barnet | 5,750 | 7,750 |
Bexley | 3,770 | 5,450 |
Brent | 3,910 | 5,300 |
Bromley | 5,930 | 7,950 |
Camden | 4,780 | 5,750 |
City of London | 1,740 | 1,990 |
Croydon | 5,330 | 8,310 |
Ealing | 5,000 | 6,890 |
Enfield | 4,070 | 5,850 |
Greenwich | 3,890 | 5,830 |
Hackney | 3,950 | 5,230 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 4,430 | 5,170 |
Haringey | 3,810 | 5,300 |
Harrow | 2,950 | 4,170 |
Havering | 4,260 | 6,160 |
Hillingdon | 4,110 | 5,880 |
Hounslow | 3,390 | 4,890 |
Islington | 3,870 | 4,980 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 3,940 | 4,440 |
Kingston upon Thames | 2,940 | 3,810 |
Lambeth | 5,660 | 7,320 |
Lewisham | 4,100 | 6,200 |
Merton | 3,610 | 4,660 |
Newham | 3,580 | 5,400 |
Redbridge | 3,440 | 4,830 |
Richmond upon Thames | 4,210 | 4,910 |
Southwark | 5,060 | 6,660 |
Sutton | 3,130 | 4,500 |
Tower Hamlets | 4,880 | 6,870 |
Waltham Forest | 4,250 | 5,940 |
Wandsworth | 7,920 | 9,670 |
Westminster | 7,050 | 8,190 |
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will consider reducing National Insurance thresholds for employers.
Answered by Lord Livermore
The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability after the situation we inherited from the previous government.
One of the toughest decisions we made was to raise the rate of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%, whilst reducing the per-employee threshold at which employers start to pay National Insurance (the Secondary Threshold) from £9,100 to £5,000.
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change this year.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to reduce value added tax for hospitality and night-time venues to boost recovery, encourage investment and support long-term growth.
Answered by Lord Livermore
The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK.
VAT is the UK’s third largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer.
HMRC estimate that the cost of a 5 per cent reduced rate for accommodation, hospitality and tourist attractions would be around £13 billion this financial year. If the scope were also to include alcoholic beverages, the cost would be approximately £3 billion greater.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, and the Chancellor makes decisions on tax changes at the Budget, in the context of the overall public finances.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend the business rates relief scheme for the night-time economy sector; and what steps they are taking towards business rates reform for that sector.
Answered by Lord Livermore
To deliver our manifesto pledge, from 2026/27, we intend to introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000, which will include many properties used by the night-time economy sector. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
Ahead of the new multipliers coming into force, we recognise that businesses will need support in 2025/26. As such, we have extended the RHL business rates relief for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. Under the previous Government, RHL relief was due to end entirely in April 2025.
Eligibility for the new RHL multipliers is intended to broadly reflect the scope of the existing RHL relief scheme and will be set out in legislation later this year. Eligibility for the RHL relief scheme is set out in guidance published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and includes many night-time economy businesses.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of reintroducing VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors.
Answered by Lord Livermore
The Government has no plans to introduce a new tax-free shopping scheme in Great Britain. Visitors to Great Britain can continue to claim VAT relief where the items purchased are shipped directly to their home country as exports.
In March 2024, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) conducted a review of the previous Government’s 2020 costing of removing tax-free shopping. The OBR’s updated estimate is that the withdrawal of the VAT Retail Export Scheme will save the Exchequer around £540 million per year by 2025-26. Reintroducing tax-free shopping would therefore likely come at significant cost to the Exchequer.
The Government has also noted recent ONS data, which shows that tourism numbers and spending for the UK has recovered at a similar rate following the pandemic to other European economies that offer tax-free shopping.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to require lenders to consider rental payment history when making decisions on mortgage applications.
Answered by Lord Livermore
The UK benefits from a competitive mortgage market, including products that are based on a tenant’s history of rental payments. Any prospective first-time buyer should speak to a mortgage broker, who will be able to assist them in finding the best possible product for their circumstances.
The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. Lenders need to balance the risk of default and losses when making their decisions, which is why mortgage affordability assessments consider a range of factors.