Government launch £22bn COVID-19 rescue package

Thousands of high street firms will today (1 April) start to receive cash grants and will be exempt from business rates for a year as the government’s £22bn package of measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak come into force.

Eligible properties, including those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, will not pay business rates for the next 12 months. The government says this will save firms in England £11bn.

The smallest businesses in these sectors are also beginning to receive one off grants of either £10,000 or £25,000, with money landing in their bank accounts.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said an early payment of £3.4bn was made to local authorities last Friday (27 March) to ensure grants would get to businesses as soon as possible. Every local authority in England has now received the full amount of grant funding they need to support their local businesses.

The business rates holiday, which also applies to England’s nurseries and to estate agencies and lettings agencies, forms part of the government’s economic response to COVID-19.

The Chancellor said: “High street businesses are at the core of what keeps our economy thriving. That is why we are taking the unprecedented step to provide businesses with the vital cash they need to ensure their survival during this difficult time.”

Full details of the UK Government’s implementation of rates reliefs and grants in response to the Covid-19 virus can be found here.

In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the devolved administrations will receive a total of £5.3bn funding under the Barnett formula to support businesses. This includes over £2.7bn for the Scottish Government, over £1.6bn for the Welsh Government and £900m for the Northern Ireland Executive.

Further details of help available for companies in the devolved nations can be found here:

• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

Hew Edgar, RICS Head of Government Relations and City Strategy, said: “RICS applauds the government’s support for firms across the UK that are closed or struggling to stay open under the current lockdown, as well as its help for employees and the self-employed. However, it needs to keep such measures under review as in picking and choosing the sectors to help most it is creating winners and losers and many companies and individuals are falling through the cracks. We also need to hear about what future steps the government will take to save our high streets.”