Hardship
What is the Hardship Relief
Scheme?
Section 49 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 gives the
Council a discretionary power to reduce or remit the payment of
non-domestic rates by granting Hardship Relief.
How is Hardship Relief
granted?
Any Hardship Relief will normally be granted as a percentage of the
rates payable for a specific period, usually the rating year in
which the application is made. In some cases, interim decisions may
be made subject to review in the light of the actual financial
accounts for the period concerned.
What are the general qualifying
criteria for Hardship Relief?
The principle purpose of an award of hardship relief is to
provide short-term assistance to businesses that are suffering
unexpected hardship, arising from circumstances beyond the
business’s control and outside of the normal risks associated with
running a business of that type, to the extent that the viability
of the business would be threatened if an award were not made.
Rate relief on the grounds of hardship shall
only be awarded where it is considered that:
(i) The ratepayer would sustain hardship if
the Council failed to grant Hardship Relief; and
(ii) It is reasonable to grant Hardship Relief
having regard to the interest of person’s subject to the Council
Tax.
The test of “hardship” need not be confined
strictly to financial hardship and applicants should disclose all
relevant factors affecting the ability of the business to meet its
rate liability.
The “interest” of local Council Taxpayers may
go wider than direct financial interests; for example, where
employment prospects in an area would be worsened by a ratepayer
going out of business, or the amenities of an area might be reduced
by, for instance, the loss of a neighbourhood shop. It is unlikely
that Hardship Relief would be granted in respect of an empty
property or where there is little expectation of economic
survival.
How to apply for Hardship Relief
Any ratepayer wishing to apply to the Council for Hardship
Relief should refer to the Council's agreed policy for
information on the application process and the circumstances in
which the award of the relief will be considered.
A copy of the Council's Discretionary Rate Relief Policy
may be downloaded by clicking
here.
An application form may be downloaded by clicking
here
An application may be submitted electronically by
clicking here. Electronic copies of supporting documents to
accompany an application should be emailed to localtax@bedford.gov.uk or
sent by post to Local Taxation, Borough Hall Cauldwell Street
Bedford MK42 9AP
What is the Local Rate
Relief Scheme?
Section 69 of the Localism Act 2011 amends the section 47 of the
Local Government Finance Act 1988 to allow local authorities the
discretion to award rate relief to all types of businesses.
The Plain English Guide to the Act addresses
this as follows:
“The Localism Act gives councils more
freedom to offer business rate discounts - to help attract firms,
investment and jobs. Whilst councils would need to meet the cost of
any discount from local resources, they may decide that the
immediate cost of the discount is outweighed by the long-term
benefit of attracting growth and jobs to their area.”
Applications for rate relief under this
section of the Policy will normally only be considered favourably
where the Council is satisfied that an award will result in
tangible benefits to local residents and in particular where the
award will directly result in attracting businesses, investment or
jobs to the local area.
Any ratepayer wishing to apply to the Council
for local rate relief should refer to the Council's agreed
policy for information on the application process and the
circumstances in which the award of the relief will be
considered.
A copy of the Council's Discretionary Rate Relief Policy
may be downloaded by clicking
here