Business rates will be maintained for another year from April, chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed.
Announcing the details as part of his second budget of the year, Sunak (pictured) said he had decided to freeze the business rates multiplier from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2023, keeping the multipliers at 49.9p and 51.2p.
HM Treasury estimates this will save businesses between £845m and £970m per year in each of the next five years starting in April.
In a consultation response published alongside the Budget, Treasury also announced it will implement a three-yearly cycle for business rates revaluations, starting from the next revaluation in 2023. This means that the following revaluation will take place in 2026.
It added that it was also carefully considering the case for an annual revaluations cycle, to be introduced in the longer-term.
The Transition Relief introduced to help support businesses seeing a significant change in the rateable value of their property will be extended for small and medium businesses, and the Supporting Small Business (SSB) scheme, for one year.
This will restrict bill increases to 15% for small properties (up to £20,000 rateable value) and 25% for medium properties (below £100,000 rateable value), subject to subsidy control limits
Other reliefs were also introduced for those who make improvements to existing properties therefore increasing their rateable value (RV) and for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties.