100% business rates retention evaluation
A process evaluation of the 100% business rate retention (BRR) pilots.
Applies to England
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The government is delivering a multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement running from 2026/27 to 2028/29. This Settlement assumes that the national business rates retention arrangement, which the vast majority of authorities are subject to, will remain at 50%.
Previous governments targeted a move to 100% business rates retention and introduced ‘pilot’ schemes in 2017 across 5 regions: Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Cornwall, West of England and Liverpool City Region. In 2023, the 100% BRR arrangements in Greater Manchester and West Midlands were extended on a long-term basis and will continue through the multi-year Settlement period. The 100% business rates retention arrangements in Cornwall, the West of England, and Liverpool City Region were extended at the Autumn Budget 2025 for the multi-year Settlement, while the government develops new retention arrangements for Mayoral Strategic Authorities.
The Autumn Budget 2025 and provisional Local Government Finance Settlement outlined government’s commitment to improve how the business rates retention system supports Mayoral Strategic Authorities to help Mayors drive local growth. This could see Mayors be allocated a share of business rates, which would see them receive a share of regional growth in rates, linked to their role in delivering Local Growth Plans.
The study sought to gather insight about the expectations and experiences of authorities taking part in the 100% business rate retention pilot scheme. This included early impacts, resources used, governance processes and, in the case of 2017/18 pilots who were entering their second year of the programme, how any realised additional growth was distributed. The research also investigated the extent to which these factors differed across the 3 study cohorts.