Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the average change in business rates liability arising from the 2026 revaluation for (a) public houses, (b) restaurants, (c) cafés and (d) hotels.

At the Budget, the VO 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.

The Government has also introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible RHL properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties. A regional breakdown of properties in scope can be found 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.

Amongst all ratepayers, over half see no bill increases in 2026/27, including 23 per cent whose bills go down, due to the government's overall package. This also means most properties seeing increases have them capped at 15 per cent or less in 2026/27, or £800 for the smallest.

Additionally, the government has introduced a 1-year 15 per cent relief for all pubs and live music venues in 2026/27, on top of the existing support package announced at Budget. For the following two years, their bills will then be frozen in real terms. Three-quarters of pubs see bills flat or falling in 2026/27.

We recognise that hotels have expressed concerns about how they are valued for business rates. Hotels valuations are undertaken in a different way to some other sectors. The methodology used is well established, but, as with pubs, the government has announced it will review the way hotels are valued to ensure it accurately reflects the rental value for these sectors.