Business Rates: Gyms and Leisure Centres

(asked on 23rd March 2026) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of business rates on the sustainability of the leisure centre and gym sector.


Answered by
Dan Tomlinson Portrait
Dan Tomlinson
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 31st March 2026

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic.

To respond to those who are seeing large increases, Government has already acted to limit increases in bills, announcing a support package worth £4.3 billion package at the Budget.

The Government is also introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The Government published information on the effects of the changes to business rates made at Budget 2025 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/effects-of-the-business-rates-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-multipliers-and-high-value-multiplier/effects-of-the-business-rates-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-multipliers-and-high-value-multiplier#multipliers

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