Hackney Council is consulting businesses on proposals for a Discretionary Business Rates Relief Scheme for allocating financial support for businesses which have seen a significant increase in their Business Rates for 2017/18 as a result of the Government led revaluation.
Please read this consultation summary to find out more about the proposed changes, and what this could mean for you and your business.
Consultation background
Business Rates (also known and National Non-Domestic Rates) are taxes paid in non-residential properties such as shops, offices, factories, and pubs. If you occupy a building, or part of one, which you use for non-domestic purposes, then you will probably be required to pay business rates.
The Government changed business rates from April this year, following a national revaluation of the ‘rateable value’ of business premises – an estimate of the cost of the letting the property on the open market. Because property prices have risen dramatically in Hackney over recent years, the borough experienced the largest increase in average rateable value in London, and five times the England average.
Hackney Council is not involved in setting rateable values or Business Rates. Because the borough was so disproportionally impacted by the new valuations, and many of its businesses face large increases in the Business Rates, the Council, along with others, called on the Government to offer more support to businesses affected.
Subsequently, the Government allocated a £300million fund to support businesses facing Business Rates rises due to its revaluations. Local authorities, like Hackney Council, have now been instructed to design their own discretionary business rates relief schemes to determine how the funding is distributed locally.
Hackney Council has been allocated £7.1 million in total, with £4.1 million available to support businesses in 2017/18. The amount of funding paid out will be limited to the amount of funding provided by the Government in each year.
The level of funding the Council has received from Government is insufficient to support all businesses facing a significant increase after the revaluation. As such, the consultation gives local businesses the opportunity to provide feedback on the design of the new discretionary relief scheme.
The consultation gives local businesses a chance to shape how best to distribute the extra local relief.
Hackney Council’s proposed Discretionary Business Rates Relief Scheme
The Council is proposing to distribute the funding according to the criteria set out below:
Businesses will qualify for relief if they:
We are also proposing that the following types of property uses aren’t eligible for local discretionary business rate relief
Business relief paid out:
How to have your say
We would like to get the Discretionary Rate Relief Scheme up and running quickly so that Hackney businesses that qualify can benefit from the additional financial support.
Please respond by 26 September 2017. For further information or to request a paper copy of the questionnaire, please call 020 8356 3466 or email consultation@hackney.gov.uk
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