Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of higher rateable values being applied to pubs that play an active role in their local communities on the sustainability of rural pubs, including those designated as assets of community value.

The Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills.

In addition, the Government has introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties.

On top of this, pubs and live music venues also benefit from 15% off their new business rates bills this year. Bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further two years.

Three-quarters of pubs will see bills flat or falling in April. The new relief is worth £1,650 for the average pub this year. As a sector pubs will pay 8% less in business rates in 2029 than they did in 2025/2026.

Pubs in rural areas may also benefit from either Rural Rate Relief or Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR). Rural Rate Relief aims to ensure that key amenities are available and community assets are protected in rural areas. It provides 100% rate relief for properties that are based in eligible rural areas with populations below 3,000. Around a third of properties in England pay no business rates because of SBRR.

The Government has also committed to review the methodologies by which pubs are valued for business rates.