Retail, hospitality and leisure relief

Eligibility

To qualify your property must be occupied, and wholly or mainly used:

• as a shop, restaurant, cafe, drinking establishment, cinema or live music venue
• for assembly or leisure (including sports clubs, nightclubs, theatres, sport and leisure facilities, gyms, public halls, clubhouses)
• as a hotel, guest and boarding premises or self-catering accommodation.

What you'll get

You could get 75 per cent off your business rates bills for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 billing years (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2025).

The most you can get in relief each billing year is £110,000 per business.

How to get retail, hospitality and leisure relief

We apply retail, hospitality and leisure relief automatically to accounts where our records suggest that the business will qualify. Each business needs to check all award conditions and tell us if it should not receive RHL relief.

If you think your business qualifies for retail, hospitality and leisure relief but it is not shown on your business rates bill, please email business.rates@dacorum.gov.uk.

Limits on relief

Cash cap

A ratepayer can only claim up to £110,000 of retail, hospitality and leisure relief.

Subsidy control

Retail, hospitality and leisure rate relief scheme is regarded as a subsidy and subject to the UK's domestic and international subsidy control obligations. The subsidy limit under the Minimal Financial Assistance threshold is £315,000 per beneficiary over a three-year period (consisting of the 2024-2025 year and the two previous financial years).

Find out more about the cash cap and subsidy control.

Multiple property declaration

If your business receives retail, hospitality and leisure relief for other properties, but the total is below the £110,000 cash cap and you have not received more than the £315,000 over three years (including 2024-2025) then please download and complete the declaration form below. You will need to list all retail, hospitality and leisure relief being received for other properties and, if appropriate, list all other subsidies you have received.

After you have completed the form, please email it to business.rates@dacorum.gov.uk.

•  RHL relief 2024-2025 - cash cap and subsidy exemption threshold declaration form (PDF 167KB)

Opting out of relief

You can opt out of retail, hospitality and leisure relief. To do this, please email business.rates@dacorum.gov.uk confirming the account numbers and property addresses for which you are opting out. You must also confirm that you are authorised to do this on behalf of the ratepayer. You can do this at any time until 30 April 2025. We will then remove the relief from your account and send you a new bill.

If you opt out of retail, hospitality and leisure relief for the 2023-2024 and/or 2024-2025 billing year you cannot change your mind.

More information

Find out more about retail, hospitality and leisure relief on the Government website.