The government has announced that letting agents will not have to pay business rates for the 2020 – 2021 year.

The new measure was announced alongside estate agents and bingo halls also not having to pay business rates.

This has come about because the government has now closed all retail premises except for the exceptions listed in the document which include essentials such as supermarkets, pharmacies, hardware shops etc. You can see the full list of exceptions here.

… the government has announced that some of the exclusions for this relief have been removed, so that retail, leisure, and hospitality properties that have closed as a result of the Covid-19 restriction measures will now be eligible for the relief.

This will ensure that estate agents, lettings agencies and bingo halls that are required to close will not pay any business rates next year.

Eligible businesses will be rebilled by their local authority and the new bill will give them the discount of 100%.