Support for businesses required to close
Businesses in England with property that has a rateable value and that are required to close due to local or national lockdown restrictions will be eligible to receive cash grants. This scheme aims to help businesses that were open as usual prior to local or national restrictions, were providing services in person to customers from the business premises and who are closed for at least two weeks by local restrictions, or closed by national restrictions for a qualifying period of 28 days from November. For businesses with properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, grants of £1,334 per month are available for those that have been required to close due to lockdown restriction. For properties with a rateable value of between £15,000 and below £51,000 there is £2,000 per month for those closed. For properties with a rateable value of over £51,000, there is £3,000 per month available.
Businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure that have been required to close due to national restrictions imposed by the Government as of 5 January 2021 may be eligible for one-off grants. These will be granted to closed businesses as follows:
- £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
- £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000
£594 million is also being made available for Local Authorities to support businesses affected by the restrictions but not eligible for these grants, These can be applied for via your Local Authority.
Sector specific support
As well as this, businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sector who aren’t legally required to close but may be adversely impacted by restrictions may also be eligible to receive cash grants. For businesses with properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, grants of up to £934 per month are available. For properties with a rateable value of between £15,000 and below £51,000 there is up to £1,400 per month available and for properties with a rateable value of over £51,000, there is up to £2,100 per month available. It will be up to Local Authorities to determine which businesses to support and who much funding will be allocated to those businesses.
Local Authorities will also receive an additional top up of funding to enable them to help businesses affected by closures which are not on the business rates list.
Local Authorities will be responsible for distributing the grant, and may determine further eligibility criteria. These grants will be treated as taxable income.
