Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what data they hold on the number of commercial recording studios liable for non-domestic rates in each of the last ten years; and whether that data shows a rise or decline in the number of such studios up to 2026.

The Valuation Office are working with the sector to ensure that recording studios are categorised as such. They publish an annual stock of properties which can be sorted by their Special Category (SCat) here: Non-domestic rating: stock of properties collection - GOV.UK. Recording studios can be found under SCat code 232. The total number of recording studios in England and Wales for the last ten years are:

2025 - 410

2024 - 410

2023 - 420

2022 - 420

2021 - 410

2020 - 400

2019 - 410

2018 - 400

2017 - 390

2016 - 390