England will give retail, hospitality and leisure properties a permanent 5p-per-£1 business rates discount from 1 April 2026. The Treasury’s regulations fix two RHL multipliers 5p below the national small business and standard rates. For 2026/27, ministers have confirmed small business RHL at 38.2p and standard RHL at 43.0p, with the non‑RHL rates at 43.2p and 48.0p and a 50.8p high‑value rate for properties with £500,000+ rateable value. ([gov.uk](Link

What that means in practice is straightforward: the multiplier is pence per pound of rateable value, so a 5p cut equals £500 off for every £10,000 of RV. A café on £24,000 RV saves £1,200 a year; a pub on £80,000 RV saves £4,000. These figures are before any other reliefs and before the one‑year 1p transitional supplement that applies to some bills in 2026/27. ([gov.uk](Link

Eligibility is defined in law. Qualifying uses include shops and service businesses serving visiting members of the public, venues selling food and drink, hotels and guest houses, caravan parks and self‑catering, and a range of cultural, community and recreational facilities. Majority online sales do not exclude a business if some in‑person trade takes place at the premises. ([legislation.gov.uk](Link

Bands and thresholds stay familiar. The small business multiplier applies below £51,000 RV, with the RHL discount available across qualifying properties up to £499,999 RV. At £500,000 RV and above, sites move onto the high‑value multiplier, set 2.8p above the national standard rate for 2026/27. ([gov.uk](Link

Unlike the 2025/26 RHL relief, there is no cash cap from April 2026. That means every qualifying outlet in a group benefits from the lower multipliers, improving planning certainty for chains as well as independents. Local authorities will assess whether a property meets the RHL definition when they issue bills. ([gov.uk](Link

How it’s funded matters for margins elsewhere. The high‑value multiplier is designed to raise more from large sites, including big distribution warehouses. On a £1.2m RV logistics unit, a 2.8p uplift equates to about £33,600 a year. The government set out this rebalancing alongside its pledge to lower rates for high‑street operators. ([gov.uk](Link

The legal footing comes from the Non‑Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Act 2025, which added powers to create higher multipliers for large hereditaments and lower multipliers for RHL properties, and to prescribe how additional multipliers are calculated. Those powers take effect for financial years beginning on or after 1 April 2026. ([legislation.gov.uk](Link

Technically, the RHL multipliers sit 5p below the national small business (D) and standard (B) multipliers in each year. The legislation also accommodates cases where the billing authority is a “special authority”, using definitions in the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and its schedules for how B and D are set. You don’t need the algebra to budget, but it explains why the discount tracks the national rates annually. ([legislation.gov.uk](Link

For SMEs, a rule of thumb helps with cashflow. A salon in Sheffield on £18,000 RV saves £900. A neighbourhood restaurant on £52,000 RV saves £2,600. A small hotel on £210,000 RV saves £10,500. Build those figures into 2026/27 P&L forecasts, then overlay local reliefs and any transitional adjustments flagged on your bill. ([gov.uk](Link

Next steps are practical: check your rateable value on the local rating list, speak to your council early if your property use has changed, and make sure billing reflects a qualifying RHL use. Councils administer the scheme and will rely on the government’s published guidance and the October 2025 regulations defining RHL uses. ([gov.uk](Link