Pubs and Live Music Venue relief
From 1st April 2026, the government announced that eligible pubs and live music venues in England will receive a 15% reduction on their business rates bills for the 2026/27 financial year. This relief entitles you to a further 15% off your bill for the 2026/27 financial year only after all other non-locally funded relief schemes have been awarded.
The government also announced that eligible pubs and live music venues' business rates bills would be frozen in real terms in 2027/28 and 2028/29 (further information to follow on this when it is released).
Properties that meet the eligibility criteria for pubs and live music venues relief will be occupied properties which meet all of the following conditions:-
They are wholly or mainly being used:
- as a pub
- as a live music venue
Pubs
We consider a pub to mean a property where all of the following criteria apply. A property that:
- is 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
For these purposes, the meaning of a pub does not include:
- restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, snack bars
- hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses
- sporting venues
- festival sites, theatres, cinemas
- museums, exhibition halls
- casinos
Live music venues
We consider a live music venue to mean a property that:
- Is 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 (e.g. the sale of food or drink to audience members)
- 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 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, for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended).