24 March 2020 
Andrea Marshall, Tax Specialist
A member has raised a question regarding the Business Rates relief announced by the Chancellor last week: can the business rates holiday apply to retail, leisure and day nursery facilities that are part of the main university assessment?
We would like to thank Richard Ayres at Gerald Eve LLP for clarifying this point. His response is set-out below.
The Business Rates Expanded Retail Discount 2020/21: Coronavirus Response – Local Authority Guidance paper issued on 18th March makes it clear that the one year relief is intended only for those hereditaments that are ‘wholly or mainly being used’ for the qualifying retail, leisure and hospitality uses.
A large university campus within which such uses might occur, but which is treated for rating purposes as a single unit of assessment, would not meet the required test. A remedy could be to seek separate assessments on the qualifying parts of such a site, perhaps on the grounds that they are properties used for a ‘wholly different purpose’. However, this could expose the university ratepayer to considerably higher rates in the future, once the rate relief period has elapsed, both in terms of the quantum of rateable value, and potential loss of charitable relief.
