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Pubs and live music venues relief

The government announced on 27 January 2026 that in 2026-27, eligible pubs and live music venues will benefit from a 15% business rates relief on top of the support announced at Autumn Budget 2025. Bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further 2 years.

The government’s policy intention is that pubs and live music venues should be eligible for the relief. The relief will apply to occupied properties only.

Pubs

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

  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
  4. permit drinks to be purchased at a bar

For these purposes, 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
  6. casinos

Live music venues

Live music venues are properties that are:

  1. wholly or mainly used for the performance of live music for the purpose of entertaining an audience
  2. can be used for other activities but only if those other activities are:
  3. ancillary or incidental to the performance of live music (e.g. the sale of food or drink to audience members)
  4. 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)
  5. 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).

How much relief will be available?

The eligibility for the relief and the relief itself will be assessed and calculated on a daily basis. The relief will be applied after mandatory reliefs and other discretionary reliefs and is not subject to subsidy caps.

The relief will be applied automatically by Herefordshire Council and this will be reflected on your annual demand notice for 2026/27.

If you have not been awarded pub and/or live music venue relief but consider that you meet the above criteria please email businessrates@herefordshire.gov.uk and we will deal with your enquiry.