England cuts RHL business rates by 5p from 1 April 2026

If you run a shop, café, cinema or gym in England, your business rates maths changes on 1 April 2026. The Treasury is switching on two permanently lower multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, each set 5p below the national rates. What it means: a built‑in discount that replaces the short‑term RHL relief and is intended to stay. (gov.uk)

Let’s ground the calculation. Your bill starts with your property’s rateable value (set by the Valuation Office Agency) multiplied by the relevant yearly multiplier. For 2026/27, ministers confirmed five multipliers: small business 43.2p, standard 48.0p, small business RHL 38.2p, standard RHL 43.0p, and a high‑value rate of 50.8p for properties with rateable values of £500,000 and above. The small/standard threshold remains £51,000. (gov.uk)

You’ll see the word “hereditament” in the rules. In plain English, that’s the unit of property that appears as a separate entry on the rating list. Bills are based on the rateable value of that hereditament, which broadly reflects what the property could be rented for per year. (publications.parliament.uk)

Now, who actually qualifies as an RHL hereditament? You’re in scope if the property is used mainly for selling goods or services to visiting members of the public, for food and drink on or off the premises, as a hotel or guest house without nursing care, or for cultural, community or recreational facilities. Online‑heavy businesses can still qualify if some activity happens in person on site. Councils must also exclude certain uses set out in the regulations. (legislation.gov.uk)

The legal shorthand matters. In the statute, “B” is the non‑domestic rating multiplier and “D” is the small business non‑domestic rating multiplier; special rules apply in the City of London (a “special authority”). The new regulations set the RHL small business multiplier at D minus 0.05 and the RHL standard multiplier at B minus 0.05. Put simply, both RHL multipliers sit 5p below their national counterparts, using the same B and D that already anchor bills in law. (legislation.gov.uk)

Worked example 1. You run a café in Leeds with a rateable value of £40,000 and it qualifies as RHL. Using 2026/27 figures, your core calculation uses 38.2p rather than 43.2p. That’s a £2,000 annual saving before any other reliefs or supplements because 0.05 × £40,000 = £2,000. Note: a one‑year 1p Transitional Relief Supplement may sit on top for some properties not in transitional protection. (gov.uk)

Worked example 2. You manage a £200,000‑RV cinema. As a qualifying RHL site, your multiplier is 43.0p rather than 48.0p. That’s £10,000 off the gross bill compared with the non‑RHL rate, again from the 5p gap. If you’re in the City of London, the City sets its own multipliers and premium, but the RHL calculation still takes 5p off the City’s equivalent B or D figure for qualifying properties. (gov.uk)

High‑value properties with rateable values of £500,000 and above do not get the lower RHL multipliers. Instead, they pay a high‑value multiplier that sits 2.8p above the national standard rate; for 2026/27 this is 50.8p. This helps fund the permanent RHL discount for smaller and mid‑sized premises. (gov.uk)

How do you know if you’re in scope? Only occupied properties can qualify for the RHL multipliers, and councils decide based on how the property is mainly used. In practice, billing teams check public sources such as business websites and Companies House records. If you think your property has been mis‑categorised, you can ask your council to review it. There is no cash cap on the new multipliers, so chains benefit on every qualifying site below £500,000 RV. (gov.uk)

One last term to keep in your toolkit: “special authority”. The law defines this using historic population and rateable value tests; in practice, only the City of London meets it. The City can set its own multipliers (with a separate premium), but the same 5p‑below rule for RHL applies there via the special‑authority provisions. What it means: the formula is consistent across England, even where the baseline is different. (legislation.gov.uk)