Connecting the live music industry
Business Rates Relief Extended for UK Live Music Venues
January28
The UK government has confirmed that live music venues will continue to receive business rates relief through 2026–27, offering welcome financial support to a sector facing sustained cost pressures.
Under measures announced by HM Treasury, eligible venues will receive a 15% reduction in business rates in the 2026–27 financial year, in addition to support outlined at Budget 2025.
Business rates bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further two years, providing venues with greater short-term certainty.
To qualify, a property must be wholly or mainly used for live music performances in front of an audience.
Music Venue Trust welcomed the announcement, describing it as urgent and immediate relief for grassroots venues.
In a statement, the organisation thanked MPs, mayors, local authorities, music fans and communities for speaking up and ensuring that grassroots music venues were included in the relief package. It said it will now consult with its Music Venues Alliance members to assess whether the proposed 15% reduction, followed by a two-year freeze, will be sufficient to address what it described as a crisis that had threatened the closure of hundreds of venues over the next three years.
The organisation also highlighted a government commitment to review the rateable value calculations underpinning the system, stating that grassroots venues, alongside recording studios and rehearsal spaces, require a valuation approach that reflects their cultural and community value rather than purely commercial metrics.
It added that attention must now turn to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where similar issues around steep revaluations of cultural spaces have resulted in unaffordable business rates, calling for urgent action across all UK nations.
The extended relief is intended to stabilise the live music ecosystem while longer-term reforms to venue valuation and support mechanisms are explored.
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