Public Houses: Business Rates

(asked on 5th January 2026) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 97528 on Electronic Cigarettes: Public Houses, whether a pub vaping ban would constitute a material change of circumstances for the purposes of the Valuation Office Agency’s valuation of pubs.


Answered by
Dan Tomlinson Portrait
Dan Tomlinson
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 13th January 2026

A vaping ban in pubs would not constitute a material change of circumstance that would impact the rating assessment of a property.

Section 14 of the Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023 in England, and in Wales, The Valuation for Rating (Prescribed Assumptions) (Wales) Regulations 2023, determined that any subsequent changes to legislation, government advice or policy could not be taken into account when determining the rateable value of a property.

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