LANDLORDS across Central Devon will be pulling a celebratory pint today after the Chancellor announced he would be slashing their bills by £1,000. Sajid Javid confirmed the new Pubs Relief would be introduced in April, with £1,000 being taken off the business rates bills of small pubs who qualify. This will be in addition to the extra retail discount the Government is introducing, which will increase rate relief from 33% to 50%. As many as 18,000 pubs are expected to benefit.
Central Devon MP Mel Stride, who received an award from the British Beer & Pub Association, Campaign for Real Ale and the Society of Independent Brewers in 2015 for his contribution to scrapping the beer duty escalator, said:
“In rural counties like Devon pubs are often the focal point of the community and are vital to the local economy. Having set up my own business from scratch I know the margins between success and failure can be very small and hopefully the new Pubs Relief, particularly combined with the extended retail discount, will make a real difference to landlords.”
A pub with a rateable value of £50,000 generates an annual rates bill of around £25,000 but currently benefits from a one-third reduction so ends up paying around £17,000. From April, the reduction will increase to 50% with the £1,000 Pubs Relief on top. The result will be a rates bill of around £11,500 – saving the pub more than £5,000.
