Very confused over business grants

[motpo]

From my understanding there are two types of grant available for businesses -the small business grant fund and the retail, hospitality and leisure grant fund. I have a business property with a rateable value below £15,000 that gets small business rates relief. It is not in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector so my council is saying I am entitled to neither grant. But I thought the small business grant was for ALL businesses who get small business rates relief regardless of sector. Please can somebody clarify for me?

 

[Dave Boatman]

There is a £10k grant for all businesses that qualify for SBBR. That one is for every business not just the retail and leisure businesses. Some councils seem to be getting confused between this and the grant that is specifically for retail and leisure.
Which council is it?

 

[motpo]

Stockport

 

[kulture]

Why are you posting the same thing again? On April 6th you asked the same question and got the same reply.

The SBRR grant is available for ALL ratepayers occupying a property and getting SBRR relief.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...support_grants-local_authorities_guidance.pdf

 

[kulture]

Just one detail to note. You have to be RECEIVING the SBRR grant on March 11th to qualify.

 

[motpo]

Im sorry I didn't realise there were so many replies to my previous thread I should have checked. But also i have now spoken to a local councillor and they are saying that they have read the government guidelines and have told me the same thing that you can only get any sort of grant if you have a retail, hospitality or leisure premises. So I'm not sure what to do. It's so stressful, my business is going under, I'm also having treatment for cancer at present. I just feel like giving up.

 

[motpo]

Yes I was receiving it on 11th March.

 

[motpo]

But I only applied for SBBR after 11th March. But have been in the premises since 2017. Does that make a difference?

 

[Dave Boatman]

Your last two posts seem to contradict each other. Your business rates bill will state whether you were receiving SBBR.

 

[motpo]

Yes, sorry they do contradict themselves. I have been in the property since 2017 but I only applied for small business rates relief two weeks ago. The council have now sent me a letter saying I have small business rates relief since 2017 for the property. However, does the fact that I have applied retrospectively for business rates relief mean I am not entitled to.the small business grant of £10,000?

 

[ADW]

You were probably getting the rate relief from the start. Once the landlord notifies council of a tenant they would have been in touch with you. Did the council state it is retrospective or just you saying that? You state the Council as saying you have small SBRR since 2017. If that is the case look at now enquiring to the council on the rant options.

 

[Dave Boatman]

Refer the council and the councillor to the appropriate part of their website.
I can’t post links yet but it is easy to find it

 

[motpo]

I have now been in touch with my local councillor and he passed me to someone else higher up in the council who have said that my case has been passed to a senior officer as it is more complicated than the automatic grant that has been processed for people who already had a SBRR account number prior to 11th March so it has to be manually processed. She said my case is a lot more straightforward than a lot of peoples that she has been dealing with (the reason I didn't apply in 2017 was because the landlord said I didn't need to). She said it is amazing the amount of bad advice that has come to light that business premises landlords have given to their tenants in the past regarding SBRR. She said my case will get "sorted out" but will take longer than the automatic ones. I still don't know what that means exactly but I will just have to wait