Pubs and Live Music Venues relief 2026

For 2026/27, all pubs and live music venues will benefit from a 15% business rates relief, announced at the November 2025 Budget, and eligible business' bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further two years.

Eligibility

Businesses will be eligible to an additional 15% relief in 2026/27, if they fall within one of the following definitions and the property is occupied. See GOV.UK for full eligibility details. 

1. Pubs

Relief will only be awarded to pubs which meet all of the following criteria:

1. is open to the general public, 
2. allows free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided, 
3. allows drinking without requiring food to be consumed, and 
4. permits drinks to be purchased at a bar.

For these purposes and relief, the meaning of pub does not include:

1. Restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, snack bars
2. Hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses
3. sporting venues
4. festival sites, theatres, cinemas
5. museums, exhibition halls, and 
6. casinos

2. Live Music Venues

Relief will be awarded to Live music venues which are occupied and are:

1. wholly or mainly used for the live music performance for the purpose of entertaining an audience.
2. Can be used for other activities but only if those other activities are:
   1. ancillary or incidental to the live music performance (e.g. the sale of food or drink to audience members).
   2. Do not affect the primary use of the premises for the performance of live music (e.g. because the activities are infrequent such as use of the venue as a polling station or 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, for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended).

For more information, please see the Government guidance.

What will be awarded?

Eligible occupied pubs or live music venue that meet one of the definitions above will benefit from a 15% business rates relief in 2026/27.

For eligible businesses, their business rates bill will then be frozen in real terms in 2027/28 and 2028/29, meaning it will only go up by inflation in those years.

Get an estimate of what your 2026/2027 business rates bill will be, including this relief.

How will it be awarded?

We are reviewing our business rates records to determine eligible businesses and will apply this relief automatically to your 2026/2027 business rates bill.

If you think your business is eligible and not had the relief applied to your 2026/2027 business rates bill, please complete the online form.

Form for Relief for Pubs and Live Music Venues 2026

Subsidy Control

The pubs and live music venues relief award is likely to amount to subsidies. Any relief provided by Local Authorities under this scheme will need to comply with the UK’s domestic and international subsidy control obligations. Any awards under this scheme do not constitute nor contribute to the Minimal Financial Assistance threshold. See our subsidy control page for more details.

This page was last updated on 26 February 2026