Coronavirus (COVID-19): Business grants

This page was last reviewed on 6 August 2020.

We are administering 2 grant schemes on behalf of the Government in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This page contains information on:

• Small Business Grants Fund
• Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants Fund

Both of these grant schemes are due to end on 28 August 2020.

How to receive a grant

Check the eligibility criteria below to see if you qualify for a Small Business Grant or a Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grant.

If you believe you meet the criteria complete the form below to apply.

Apply for a Small Business Grant or a Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant

We aim to make a payment as soon as we can. We will notify you of the outcome of your application by email, or by letter if we do not hold your email address.

We have a responsibility to ensure that the correct businesses receive the grants and we are conducting checks on the information we are receiving before payments are made. If we have queries on the information provided on the form we will contact you for clarification before we make a payment.

If you have recently registered for business rates or claimed small business rates relief and have not received a new business rates bill, we will not be able to award a Small Business Grant until we have verified that you are eligible.

If you move out of the property in the next 12 months you will not be expected to pay back any of the grant.

Small Business Grant Fund

A £10,000 grant for small business properties for which on 11 March 2020 all of the following applied:

• you were liable for business rates for your premises
• the property was occupied
• it was eligible for small business rates relief or rural relief - these are shown on your business rates bill

Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant Fund

A grant for business properties for which on 11 March 2020 all of the following applied:

• you were liable for business rates for your premises
• the property was occupied
• the property had a rateable value of less than £51,000
• it would have been eligible for the expanded retail, hospitality and leisure discount if it had been in existence at that date
• if you are a charity you could be eligible if your property is in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector but you don't get the expanded retail hospitality and leisure discount because you already receive local discretionary relief

There are two levels of Retail, Hospitality & Leisure grant:

• a £10,000 grant for properties with rateable values of up to £15,000
• a £25,000 grant for properties with rateable values between £15,001 and £51,000

Further eligibility criteria for the Small Business Grant and Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant schemes

You can only receive one grant per business property. If you are eligible for both of the grant funds you will only receive one of them.

If you have more than one business you can claim one grant for each premises if you are eligible.

Both schemes exclude the following types of business rates liabilities:

• those for private use, such as private stables and moorings
• car parks and car parking spaces
• businesses in liquidation on 11 March 2020

European Union (EU) State Aid laws restrict the amount of state funding businesses can receive. Further information about what constitutes state aid can be found on the GOV.UK website. For businesses eligible to receive a payment from the Small Business Grant Fund or the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund the state aid limit is:

• €200,000 received over a 3 year period which covers the current financial year, running from April 2020 to March 2021, and the two preceding financial years, plus
• €800,000 received over the period March 2020 to December 2020