Garden centres and farm shops across the UK may have been bolstered by the takeaway headline that the government will introduce “permanently lower tax rates” for more than 750,000 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure properties further to this year’s Budget, but the good news could quickly be followed by a surge in Rateable Values in the forthcoming Revaluation, warns Chris Primett of Malcolm Scott Consultants.
Amongst the biggest talking points of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ second Budget since Labour came to power in 2024 was the news that the business rates multipliers for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) sector have been confirmed as being positioned 5p below standard national businesses, with a small business RHL multiplier of 38.2p and a standard RHL multiplier 43p in 2026-27 – resulting in what the government claims will be the lowest tax rate since 1990-91 and 2010-11 for small and standard RHL properties respectively.
The reductions are being funded by introducing higher rates on business properties with Rateable Values of £500,000 or more – an estimated 1% of properties, with a rate of 2.8p above the national standard multiplier of 48p, resulting in a high-value multiplier of 50.8p in 2026-27.
Chris Primett, Director of garden centre property specialists Malcolm Scott Consultants, said: “There will have certainly been some cause for celebration further to last week’s news from the sector, which has faced a series of economic challenges over the past five years with the pandemic, the energy crisis and poor weather conditions, but with the Draft Rating List for 2026 having been released, this will quickly be followed by consternation.
“While the business rates multipliers may have been reduced, the current Rating List, which came into force in April 2023, will be suspended on March 31st 2026, with new Rateable Values being put in place. Following several years of relief for the sector post-pandemic, these Rateable Values are likely to triple, with some being hiked further still.
“The coming weeks will see my colleagues and I reviewing the new List and the huge fluctuation in Rateable Values it brings as we support our clients through the process and advise them on what to expect and what response is available to them,” he added.
