Guidance

Check if you're eligible for the coronavirus Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) supports businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with their business costs during coronavirus.

This guidance was withdrawn on

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund is now closed.

You should have received your grant by 30 September 2020. Contact your local council if you think you’re eligible for a grant but have not yet received it.

Applies to England

Businesses in England in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are entitled to a one-off cash grant of up to £25,000 from their local council.

What you get

If your business has a property with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, you may be eligible for a grant of £10,000.

If your business has a property that has a rateable value of over £15,000 but less than £51,000, you may be eligible for a grant of £25,000.

Eligibility

You’re eligible if your business:

  • is based in England
  • is in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector
  • had a rateable value of under £51,000 on 11 March 2020

Changes made to a business’s rateable value or rating assessment after 11 March 2020 will not affect eligibility.

Properties covered by the fund

Properties eligible for the grant will be those that are wholly or mainly being used as a hospitality, retail, or leisure venue, such as a:

  • shop
  • restaurant, café, bar or pub
  • cinema or live music venue
  • estate agent or letting agency
  • assembly or leisure property - for example, a bingo hall, a sports club, a gym or spa
  • hospitality property - for example, a hotel, a guest house or self-catering accommodation

Eligible charities which have received charitable rate relief or discretionary relief can still get the grant.

Properties excluded from the fund

You cannot get funding for:

  • properties occupied for personal uses, such as private stables, beach huts and moorings
  • car parks and parking spaces

If you use more than one property

Eligible businesses can get one grant per property.

You cannot claim both the retail, hospitality and leisure grant and the small business grant on the same property.

If you already get state aid

The retail, hospitality and leisure grant counts as state aid under the COVID-19 Temporary Framework.

Your local council will ask you to complete a declaration confirming that:

  • you will not exceed the state aid temporary framework threshold of €800,000
  • you were not an ‘undertaking in difficulty’ on 31 December 2019

How to claim

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund is now closed.

What happens next

The grant will be paid to the person registered as the ratepayer for the property as of 11 March 2020.

You do not have to pay the grant back but it will be taxable. Only businesses which make an overall profit once grant income is included will be subject to tax.

1 May 2020
Updated with information on tax.

3 April 2020
Updated with information about state aid.

1 April 2020
First published.

Updates to this page

Published 1 April 2020

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