Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of business rates policy on access to affordable fitness facilities and consequent effects on public health.

At the Budget, the Valuation Office 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.

In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills. As a result, over half of ratepayers see no bill increases this year, including 23 per cent seeing their bills go down. This also means most properties seeing increases have them capped at 15 per cent or less in 2026/27, or £800 for the smallest.

The Government has introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. Only properties that are wholly or mainly used for providing RHL activity (as defined in legislation) to visiting members of the public are eligible for these new permanently lower RHL multipliers.

This includes community gyms and fitness facilities with rateable values below £500,000 that are open to members of the public. Further details on what is meant by “visiting members of the public” can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/business-rates-multipliers-qualifying-retail-hospitality-or-leisure.