Eligibility
Pubs
Relief will be awarded to pubs that meet all of the following characteristics
a. is open to the general public,
b. allows free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided,
c. allows drinking without requiring food to be consumed, and
d. permits drinks to be purchased at a bar.
For these purposes, the meaning of pub does not include
a. Restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, snack bars,
b. Hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses,
c. sporting venues,
d. festival sites, theatres, concert halls, cinemas,
e. museums, exhibition halls, and
f. casinos
The proposed exclusions in the list in the paragraph above is not intended to be exhaustive and it will be for Local Authorities to determine those cases where eligibility is unclear. Local Authorities will already have a good understanding of the pubs in their areas and will be able to readily form a view on eligibility in the majority of cases.
Where eligibility is unclear, Local Authorities should also consider broader factors in their considerations – i.e., in meeting the stated intent of policy that it demonstrates the characteristics that would lead it to be classified as a pub by the natural meaning of the word. For example, being owned and operated by a brewery.
Live music venues
Live music venues are properties that are
a. wholly or mainly used for the performance of live music for the purpose of entertaining an audience.
b. Can be used for other activities but only if those other activities are
i. ancillary or incidental to the performance of live music (e.g. the sale of food or drink to audience members).
ii. Do not affect the primary use of the premises for the performance of live music (e.g. because the activities are infrequent such as use of the venue as a polling station or fortnightly community event).
Properties are not a live music venue for the purpose of this relief if the property is wholly or mainly used as a nightclub or a theatre, for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended).
There may be circumstances where it is difficult to tell whether an activity is a performance of live music or, instead, the playing of recorded music. Although we would expect this to be clear in most circumstances, guidance on this may be found in Chapter 16 of the statutory guidance issued in April 2018 under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.
What you’ll get
If you are a pub or live music venue that meets one of the above definitions, you will benefit from 15% business rates relief in 2026-27. This relief will apply on top of any Transitional Relief or Supporting Small Business Relief you are eligible for.
Your business rates bill will then be frozen in real terms in 2027-28 and 2028-29, meaning it will only go up by inflation in those years.
To get an estimate of what your business rates bill will be next year, including this relief, click here.
Example
You are an independent pub with a rateable value going from £30,000 to £39,000 in April 2026. You are claiming 40% retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) relief in 2025-26.
In 2025-26, before RHL relief, the pub’s business rates bill is £14,970 (£30,000 x 49.9p). The RHL relief would be worth 40% x £14,970 = £5,988, meaning the final 2025-26 bill is £14,970 – £5,988 = £8,982.
In 2026-27, due to the 2026 revaluation, the rateable value of the pub has increased from £30,000 to £39,000. The pub is eligible for the new small business RHL multiplier of 38.2p in 2026-27, so before any reliefs, the pub’s bill would be £39,000 x 38.2p = £14,898.
To help smooth the transition to the permanently lower RHL multipliers, the government is providing relief through the Supporting Small Business scheme for properties losing their RHL relief in 2026-27. This means that the pub’s bill increase in 2026-27 compared to 2025-26 is capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant Transitional Relief cap (in this case, 15%).
15% of the 2025-26 bill of £8,982 would be £1,347, which is higher than the £800 cap. So, in this case, the 15% cap applies £8,982 + £1,347 = £10,329.
A 15% relief is then applied to the £10,329 £10,329 x 15% = £1,549. £10,329 – £1,549 = £8,780 final bill in 2026-27.
In 2027-28, the pub’s £8,780 bill will only go up by inflation. Assuming the September 2026 CPI figure is 2%, the bill would go up to £8,956 (£8,780 x 1.02).
Assuming the September 2027 CPI figure is 2%, the bill would go up to £9,135 (£8,956 x 1.02).