Changes to Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief

• The Government has announced that from April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and that bills will be frozen for a further two years.
• This new relief applies to pubs and to live music venues in England.
• A new online estimator tool has been published to help you understand how the new relief reduces your 2026-27 business rates bill.
• The estimator applies reliefs you are entitled to and the relevant multiplier to give you an estimate of your 2026-27 business rates bill.
• You will need your current and future (2026-27) rateable value to estimate your new bill and will be asked about reliefs that currently apply to your property. Details of these reliefs can be found on your 2025-26 business rates bill.
• If you are a pub, you can access the estimator through the Find a Business Rates Valuation service.
• If you are a live music venue you can access the estimator through GOV.UK: Calculator Start (opens in a new window)
• You can find more information about who is eligible for the new relief on GOV.UK. (opens in a new window)
• The accuracy of the estimate will depend on the information you provide, and it may not cover every circumstance.
• Local councils typically send out business rates bills in February and March. Your bill will confirm your business rates liability for 2026-27.
• If you believe your property is eligible for the new relief, but it hasn’t been applied to your bill, you should contact your local council who will be able to advise you further.
• The Government has also announced a review of how pubs and hotels are valued, ahead of the 2029 revaluation. Industry bodies have highlighted concerns with how costs are accounted for in this methodology and the government wants to assess this more closely. This doesn’t impact current and future (2026) valuations.
• The VOA can help with any questions you have about your rateable value.
• Your local council calculates your business rates bill and can help with questions about your bill, reliefs you may be entitled to, and how and when to pay your bill.

I have a music venue/pub and this relief hasn’t been applied to my bill, what do I do?

If you believe your property meets the definition of a live music venue and should be eligible for the new relief you should contact your local council who will be able to advise you further. You can find more information about who is eligible for the new relief on GOV.UK (opens in a new window).

What do I do if I still think my business rates bill is too high?

Any questions about your bill should be directed to your local council. If you want to request changes to your rateable value you can do so through the VOA’s online Check and Challenge service. You can check if the details we hold about your property are correct. Any changes made to your current valuation could result in your rateable value going up or down and may affect your new valuation. By law, your new valuation cannot be formally challenged until it comes into force on 1 April 2026