Spring Budget sets out additional results for business rates

The Spring Budget announced on the 3 March provides extensions to existing COVID-19 support, including through its business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, as well as airports. It also re-iterated the commitment made at the 2020 Spending Review of freezing the business rates multiplier (the UBR) for 2021-2022.

• The retail, hospitality and leisure relief extended at 100% business rates relief to 30 June, followed by 66% relief from 1 July to 31 March 2022, capped at £2m per business for properties that were required to be closed on 5 Jan 2021, or £105k per business for other eligible properties
• Support for airports – renewing the Airports and Ground Operations Support Scheme for a further six months from the start of 2021-22. Cap per claimant of £4m
• The government has frozen the business rates multiplier in England for 2021-22 with effect from 1 April 2021. Without the freeze, the small business multiplier would have risen from 49.9p to 50.1p and the standard multiplier would have risen from 51.2p to 51.4p.

Earlier announcements by government have seen the long-awaited fundamental review of business rates postponed until the Autumn Budget.

Read our analysis of the key Spring Budget takeaways for business.