Small Business Grant Fund Help needed
Discussion
Hi Guys
A couple of my family member's run small businesses from rented properties where the rent and rates are paid directly to the Landlord.
As the grant is sent to the ratepayer which is the Landlord, they are getting the £10,000 grant not the small business who it was intended to help.
Surely this is not correct. The Landlord still want and get their rent plus they make a nice £10k profit on the side while the small business has little to no income now and gets nothing.
Is there any way to force the Landlord to hand over this grant which would help them tremendously in this difficult time.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Chris
A couple of my family member's run small businesses from rented properties where the rent and rates are paid directly to the Landlord.
As the grant is sent to the ratepayer which is the Landlord, they are getting the £10,000 grant not the small business who it was intended to help.
Surely this is not correct. The Landlord still want and get their rent plus they make a nice £10k profit on the side while the small business has little to no income now and gets nothing.
Is there any way to force the Landlord to hand over this grant which would help them tremendously in this difficult time.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Chris
We have just recieved our grant though its pretty much gone already!
Who's name are the business rates in? Do they get any rate relief?
I had to speak to our local council a couple of times regarding ours and found them very helpful, seemed to bend over backwards to get things sorted as soon as possible. Probably worth getting some advice from them directly.
Who's name are the business rates in? Do they get any rate relief?
I had to speak to our local council a couple of times regarding ours and found them very helpful, seemed to bend over backwards to get things sorted as soon as possible. Probably worth getting some advice from them directly.
Are you sure the landlord has applied for the grants? They aren't sent out automatically, there is an application to complete which requires details and copies of bank statements.
Id be getting onto the council ASAP and asking for the rate name to be changed and back dating it. It will then be at the discretion of the council but provided they can supply supporting documents and bank statements showing trading, I can't see a reason the council would object. It will certainly delay the process though.
I'd strongly suggest altering the name on the rates anyway even if the council aren't willing to help with the grant. It's not the landlords responsibility, it's the business owner.
Id be getting onto the council ASAP and asking for the rate name to be changed and back dating it. It will then be at the discretion of the council but provided they can supply supporting documents and bank statements showing trading, I can't see a reason the council would object. It will certainly delay the process though.
I'd strongly suggest altering the name on the rates anyway even if the council aren't willing to help with the grant. It's not the landlords responsibility, it's the business owner.
Law of unforeseen consequences here. All they can do is suggest to the land lord that they wave the rent for a similar period. If there are multiple tenants in one propperty the landlord will only get 1 grant so may have to split it multiple ways. The landlord is also running a business and may need it as much.
Many thanks. I did manage to get through to someone for clarification. He advised me that the grant is intended for the small business but was designed to pay the rate payer who is registered with the local council. So Morally the Landlord should pass it on to the small business who occupies and pays the rates albeit to the Landlord but legally he doesn’t have to. What is even worse is that the Landlord is still demanding full rent and rates.
chris52 said:
Many thanks. I did manage to get through to someone for clarification. He advised me that the grant is intended for the small business but was designed to pay the rate payer who is registered with the local council. So Morally the Landlord should pass it on to the small business who occupies and pays the rates albeit to the Landlord but legally he doesn’t have to. What is even worse is that the Landlord is still demanding full rent and rates.
I know a few people in this situation. There's nothing you can do currently, except for hope the landlord will do the right thing (however in the instances I know of the landlord hasn't).From what I've seen the long and the short of it is - you need to be receiving your own business rates bill each year to your address, and need the number from it to be eligible.
There's plenty of people paying an all inclusive fee to a landlord without their own individual rates bill, and it looks like they are outside of the scope of these grants at the moment.
There's plenty of people paying an all inclusive fee to a landlord without their own individual rates bill, and it looks like they are outside of the scope of these grants at the moment.
Might be worth a post in the business forum.
It sounds like the tenant not the landlord should be the rateable occupier. I've severely pissed off landlords in the past in similar circumstances by messing around with assessments and landing them with a big retrospective rates bill (in this case they deserved it).
I don't know what happens to the grant if you retrospectively change. Might be worth looking into.
It sounds like the tenant not the landlord should be the rateable occupier. I've severely pissed off landlords in the past in similar circumstances by messing around with assessments and landing them with a big retrospective rates bill (in this case they deserved it).
I don't know what happens to the grant if you retrospectively change. Might be worth looking into.
C8 said:
You had to be registered in the business rate system at a certain date so as it stands nothing retrospective.
A few councils are using their discretion to back date the name on the rates, have a friend who managed to change rate name in mid-March and back date it to October, he has recieved a grant. Different councils appear to be sorting this in different ways though so think it's pot-luck!
It's a shame when this happens, but many Landlords are taking a big hit too, and many have big mortgages on the properties that have to be paid, with no chance of relief. If the properties are repossessed, there will likely be no business premises for the tentant.
I have a couple of rental properties, I can't really see how a landlord can have multiple 'rates free' properties, as often that would exclude him from the relief. My tenants have taken the grant, which they only have because they rent the property.In one case I helped them get it. After that, one of them has now asked not to pay the rent! It's only him in there on his own, TBH I wouldn't mind betting he's better off at home with the 10K in the account.
I think the correct thing to do for the landlord who gets the bailout directly, to protect everyone fairly, would be to deduct the current rent owed to date, and hand the rest over, with some dialogue about how they were going to move forward between them.
Clearly the 'best and most succesful landlords' are indeed, complete and utter b*******rds. However, we're not all like that, and some are facing 'holding the baby' when the balloon goes up, and will face repossession themselves.
I have a couple of rental properties, I can't really see how a landlord can have multiple 'rates free' properties, as often that would exclude him from the relief. My tenants have taken the grant, which they only have because they rent the property.In one case I helped them get it. After that, one of them has now asked not to pay the rent! It's only him in there on his own, TBH I wouldn't mind betting he's better off at home with the 10K in the account.
I think the correct thing to do for the landlord who gets the bailout directly, to protect everyone fairly, would be to deduct the current rent owed to date, and hand the rest over, with some dialogue about how they were going to move forward between them.
Clearly the 'best and most succesful landlords' are indeed, complete and utter b*******rds. However, we're not all like that, and some are facing 'holding the baby' when the balloon goes up, and will face repossession themselves.
The landlord quite simply is not entitled to Small Business Rate Relief let alone the grant! Have a look at paragraphs 21, 22, 23 & 24 of the Guidance https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...
If the Landlord is benefiting from Small Business Relief they cannot be the ratepayer as there is a limit to what you can occupy to qualify for SBRR. The legal ratepayer should be the rateable occupier which in this case is not the person named on the rate bill. Phone the council.
If the Landlord is benefiting from Small Business Relief they cannot be the ratepayer as there is a limit to what you can occupy to qualify for SBRR. The legal ratepayer should be the rateable occupier which in this case is not the person named on the rate bill. Phone the council.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff