2,000 Leeds businesses no longer have to pay council rates

It follows an update given by Leeds City Council on financial support available to businesses in the district, which includes cash grants of £10,000-£25,000 to support smaller businesses financially suffering due to the pandemic.

The leader of Leeds City Council said the authority was working as quickly as possible to process the grants.

A statement released this afternoon by the council said it had already reissued business rates bills for around 2,000 bars, restaurants and shops that are now eligible for a ‘100 per cent retail discount’ – meaning they would no longer pay any rates.

A £10,000 cash grant is being offered to small businesses which occupy properties with rateable values of under £15,000; while a £25,000 grant is also being offered to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from premises with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000.

The council claims around 6,000 businesses eligible for the £10,000 grant are currently being processed, and has estimated that around 10,500 businesses in Leeds are eligible.

Businesses are being asked to complete an online form at: www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/business#small if they are eligible.

Leader of Leeds City Council Judith Blake (Lab) said: “We know that many businesses are faced with significant uncertainty at the moment and may be struggling financially during these unprecedented times.

“We want to reassure them that we are working hard to play our part. Being a large local authority in a vibrant city, we know there are thousands of businesses eligible for the cash grants. We are working as quickly as possible to process them in order to further ease the financial difficulties faced by businesses but please bear with us at what is an extremely busy time.

“We also hugely value all of our suppliers and therefore will now make payments to them as soon as the invoice has been processed. We hope this helps in what we know must be extremely challenging times for them.”

For more information on help for businesses, visit: https://www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/business.