The government has announced a major package of reforms on business rates for pubs, as well as licensing reforms.
Pubs will get a 15% cut to new business rates bills from April followed by a two-year real-term freeze, as well as a review into the method used to value them for business rates. This comes on top of support announced at the Budget.
The wider hospitality industry has also lobbied for relief, but last week Reeves said the government was focusing only on the pub sector. Live venues have been added.
The government also announced a new High Street Strategy which it said will help "ensure retail, leisure and hospitality businesses can thrive".
The package will save the average pub an additional £1,650 in 2026-27, according to the government. Around 75% of pubs will see their bills fall or stay flat over the same year with the pub sector as a whole paying 8% less in business rates in 2029 than they do currently.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: "If we’re going to restore the pride in our communities, we need our pubs and our high streets to thrive. We’re backing British pubs with additional support, and our new High Streets Strategy will help tackle the long-term challenges that our much-loved retail, leisure and hospitality businesses have faced. Thriving local businesses, bustling high streets and pride restored in our communities – that’s what this government is delivering. Other sectors continue to benefit from the £4.3 billion support package and from permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties."
The government is also launching a review into how pubs are valued. The review will be carried out by the government alongside businesses and their representatives as well as valuation experts, ensuring that any decisions that follow will be implemented for the 2029 revaluation, the government said.
It said the cross-government High Streets Strategy will be published later this year and will look at what more the government can do to support high streets.
In the spring, the government will consult on further loosening planning rules to benefit pubs, helping them add new guest rooms or expand their main room without local planning applications. It will continue to engage with the sector to ensure other retail, leisure, and hospitality premises also have sufficient planning flexibilities, it added.
The Chancellor also announced today £10 million of funding for the Hospitality Support Fund over three years, upped from £1.5 million for one year announced last April, to support pubs across the UK.
As part of further licencing reforms, pubs and other licensed venues will be able to open after midnight for Home Nations games in the later stages of this summer’s Men’s football world cup. The government is also bringing forward a consultation to allow them to open late for other big events such as Eurovision.
The government will legislate later this year to increase the number of temporary events pubs and other hospitality venues can hold to help screen other World Cup games or host community and cultural events.
This support comes on top of a £4.3 billion package the Chancellor announced at Budget 2025. This includes capping business rate bill rises by 15% for most businesses from April, or £800 for the smallest, next year as pandemic-era reliefs end and new revaluations take effect.
Experts at adviser Ryan said while the additional support will be welcomed by the pub sector, total support for the wider retail, hospitality and leisure sector will still fall sharply from April 2026.
They added: "Even with an extra £100 million for pubs, overall high-street support will remain around £320 million lower than in the current financial year."
Its data shows that focusing relief solely on pubs risks missing where the largest valuation shocks now sit, leaving wide swathes of hospitality and leisure facing materially higher costs from April 2026.
Rachel Kelly, associate policy director, British Property Federation, said: “We welcome any additional support for pubs but the fact that emergency measures are needed just weeks after Government introduced its new two-tier system for business rates shows the changes have not been properly considered.
“The withdrawal of business rates relief for high street businesses has only been partially offset by the new split system, whereby smaller retail and hospitality premises pay a lower level of tax than larger, more valuable properties. This change hits all parts of the economy, with shops and restaurants as well as larger offices, warehouses and manufacturing buildings all potentially facing higher bills.
“The changes have made a bad system worse and Government must ultimately lower and fix the multiplier tax rate and move to annual revaluations to avoid these sudden swings and emergency measures in the future.”