At the Budget on 26 November 2025, the Chancellor announced that the government would provide a package of measures to support businesses in England, worth an estimated £4.3 billion over the next five years. The government announced that, from April 2026, new retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) multipliers would be set 5p below the relevant national multipliers for qualifying properties with rateable values below £500k, funded by a high-value multiplier 2.8p above the national standard multiplier for properties with rateable values of £500,000 and above.
Non-domestic rating multipliers
The Non-Domestic Rating Multipliers for 2026/27 will be as follows:
- Small business RHL multiplier: 38.2p
- Small business non-domestic rating multiplier: 43.2p
- Standard RHL multiplier: 43.0p
- Standard non-domestic rating multiplier: 48.0p
- High-value non-domestic rating multiplier: 50.8p
To find details on which properties will qualify for the RHL multipliers, click here.
You do not need to contact Knowsley Council to request a RHL multiplier as the Business Rates Team are already in the process of identifying each business in Knowsley to confirm its eligibility. We may contact you for more information about your business.
Relief packages to support businesses
The Chancellor also announced that the government would provide a package of reliefs to support businesses.
For 2026/27, this includes:
- Transitional Relief – To support ratepayers facing large bill increases at the revaluation the government is introducing a redesigned Transitional Relief scheme worth £3.2 billion. A transitional relief scheme will also be in place from 1 April 2026, which will limit the increase in bills. Find out more about these changes here.
- Transitional Relief Supplement – a 1p supplement to the relevant tax rate for ratepayers who do not receive Transitional Relief or the Supporting Small Business scheme to partially fund Transitional Relief. This will apply for one year from 1 April 2026.
- 2026 Supporting Small Business Scheme (SSB relief) – Bill increases for businesses losing some or all of their small business rates relief or rural rate relief will be capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief caps from 1 April 2026. The 2026 SSB relief scheme has been expanded to ratepayers losing their RHL relief. The government has also announced a one-year extension of the 2023 Supporting Small Business scheme from 1 April 2026. This support is applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.
- 100% relief for Eligible Electric Vehicle Charging Points and Electric Vehicle only forecourts (EVCP relief) – a ten-year 100% business rates relief for EVCPs separately assessed by the VOA and Electric Vehicle only forecourts to ensure that they face no business rates liability.
- A high-value business rates multiplier for properties with rateable values of £500k and above at 2.8p above the national standard multiplier.
- Extending the Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) grace-period from one to three years. Businesses taking on a second property after 27 November 2025 will retain SBRR on their original property for 3 years. Those who have taken on an additional property prior to this date will retain SBRR for 1 year.
Pubs and Live Music Venue Relief
On 27 January 2026, the government announced that eligible pubs and live music venues in England will receive a 15% reduction on their business rates bills for 2026 to 2027.
Businesses will not be required to apply for Pub and Music Venues Rate Relief as it will be applied automatically. However, if having read the guidance below, you think your business is eligible but the relief has not been included on your bill, you can request your property be considered for relief by emailing the Business Rates team at business.rates@knowsley.gov.uk
Eligibility
Properties that meet the eligibility criteria must be occupied and be wholly or mainly being used as:
- A pub
- A live music venue
Pubs
The following criteria must apply:
- Be open to the general public
- Allows free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided
- Allows drinking without requiring food to be consumed
- Permits drinks to be purchased at a bar
The meaning of a pub for this relief does not include:
- Restaurants, cafés, nightclubs or snack bars
- Hotels, guesthouses or boarding houses
- Sporting venues
- Festival sites, theatres or cinemas
- Museums or exhibition halls
- Casinos
Live Music Venues
The following criteria must apply:
- Be wholly or mainly used for the performance of live music for the purpose of entertaining an audience
- Can be used for other activities but only if those other activities:
- Are ancillary or incidental to the performance of live music (for example, the sale of food or drink to audience members)
- Do not affect the primary use of the premises for the performance of live music (for example, 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.
How much relief will be awarded?
15% Relief will be awarded to eligible properties after the award of other mandatory and discretionary reliefs.
Pubs and Music Venues Rate Relief is likely to amount to a subsidy.