Treasury review of pub and hotel rates to report in March 2027

The Treasury has commissioned a review of how business rates valuations are calculated for pubs and hotels in England and Wales.

Jerry Schurder, a business rates expert and former business rates policy lead at advisory firm Newmark UK, will lead it and report back in March 2027.

His findings will feed into the next rates revaluation in 2029. That is the date small operators should write down, because it is when any change to the method would actually reach a bill.

The government is asking landlords, hoteliers and business owners to submit views during the process.

The mechanism under scrutiny is the one that makes hospitality different. The British Beer and Pub Association says pubs are valued differently from retail premises, judged not on floor area alone but on a measure called Fair Maintainable Trade.

The practical effect is that when a pub's turnover rises, its rates bill rises with it. A good year is taxed as an asset rather than treated as one.

James Murray, financial secretary to the Treasury, said the review would look at "a rethink of valuations - so that we can build a fairer system for the future".

The backdrop is closures. The BBPA reports that 161 pubs closed in the first three months of this year across England, Scotland and Wales, costing around 2,400 jobs. Rising rates are one cited pressure, alongside higher National Insurance and minimum wage costs.

Short-term relief has arrived in pieces. The government cut business rates for pubs and music venues by 15% earlier in 2026, and Andy Burnham last month announced a further 20% cut for pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England, effective in April, on top of the existing support.

That relief does not extend to the "very largest" live music venues, and some businesses have been unclear whether they count as a pub for the purposes of the discount. Eligibility details are expected at Chancellor John Healey's first Budget in the autumn.

Not everyone is convinced the review is aimed widely enough. Craig Beaumont of the Federation of Small Businesses welcomed Schurder's appointment as bringing "crucial heavyweight business rates expertise into the Treasury", but said the government should raise the small business rates relief threshold to exempt more smaller firms.

Tom Ironside of the British Retail Consortium said it was "vitally important that the needs of retailers are not overlooked". Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride called the review "far too late". Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper called reform "long overdue" and asked for an emergency VAT cut.

For an operator running one or two sites, the timetable is the story. The consultation is open now, the report is fourteen months out from the current position, and the valuation change cannot bite until 2029.

The decision that affects next year's cash is the autumn Budget, which settles who qualifies as a pub for the 20% discount. That is where the money is, and it is the shorter deadline of the two.