UK grassroots music venues to receive further business rates discount, government confirms

Grassroots music venues will receive a further discount on business rates following a government U-turn. 

Announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves today (January 28), pubs and grassroots music venues will be given an additional 15% discount on rates from April 2026 for two years, as part of a £80 million per-year support package.

The U-turn follows backlash against the Labour government over changes to Business Rate Multipliers announced in the 2025 budget, which experts threatened that, combined with increases in national insurance contributions and minimum wage, could cause hundreds of pubs, bars and nightlife venues to close.

While there had been speculation ahead of the announcement around the exclusion of nightclubs and live music venues, a government press release confirmed that grassroots music venues "will also be included in the support package" due to them often serving as "pubs and vice versa". Nightclubs and music venues as a whole have not been included in the further discounts.

Read this next: Sadiq Khan's Nightlife Taskforce share 23 recommendations for London's night-time economy

While the government's definition of a grassroots venue has not been clarified, organisations such as the Music Venue Trust (MVT) typically ranks them into three categories: Small GMVs with a capacity of under 350, medium GMVs with a capacity between 351 and 650, and large GMVs with a capacity of over 651. 

"We will be exploring with our Music Venues Alliance venue members if the proposed 15% reduction in rates payable, followed by a freeze for 2 years, is sufficient to manage this crisis, which threatened to close hundreds of venues in the next three years," MVT founder and CEO Mark Davyd said in a statement. 

"There is a commitment to review the calculations at the core of this issue, and we will fully support that review of Rateable Values," he continues. "Grassroots Music Venues, and other crucial parts of the music ecosystem such as recording studios and rehearsal spaces, require a specific valuation process that recognises their cultural and community value and we hope this review can deliver that."

Support Your Local Club: Shop the Mixmag range here

NTIA CEO Michael Kill has been less welcoming of the U-turn, accusing the government of "supporting one part" of the nightlife industry while "ignoring" the rest. "This policy position is frankly baffling. Pubs, bars, nightclubs, live music venues and cultural spaces are all part of the same fragile ecosystem, facing the same structural challenges and carrying the same disproportionate tax burdens."

“Once again, we are seeing sticking plasters applied to a much deeper problem that urgently needs to be addressed," he continues. "There appears to be a worrying level of disengagement from the realities on the ground, and a lack of joined-up thinking across government. “The Chancellor must urgently address this imbalance and recognise that piecemeal, sub-sector-specific interventions will not stabilise the industry. Without a meaningful, sector-wide approach to taxation and business rates reform, closures will continue, jobs will be lost, and vital cultural and social infrastructure will be permanently damaged. The current approach is simply not sustainable.”

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on X