Budget £3000 cash grant

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
ClareW
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Budget £3000 cash grant

Post by ClareW »

Can't find anything about this on the forums- apologies if I have missed it. The budget yesterday announced a £3000 cash grant for small business that have business rate relief... does this include holiday lets? If so I wonder how we go about claiming it
Drax
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Post by Drax »

Hi Clare,
I guessed this grant will only be available for new 'start-up' businesses. which may include holiday let owners.
However I may be wrong.
Keep your powder dry.
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

I understood it was a grant to all small hotels, B and B's and holiday lets who already have zero rated business rates (because they won't benefit from the zero offer being made to other small businesses as they already have that) and it was to all of us! The only problem is - how do we apply and who to or does it come to us automatically as a small business registered with our local councils (unlikely). Nothing to do with start ups.
ClareW
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Post by ClareW »

Yes, I didn't hear anything about start ups either. I heard a little more on the radio about it since posting this and it would seem that nobody really knows how we would get this yet (if we are eligible)- whether we would need to apply to the local council or it would happen automatically. I may contact the council in a few days to find out whether holiday lets will be eligible and how it would happen.
ianh100
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Post by ianh100 »

My hope is we don't pay any business rates (we have 2 small properties so the first is free the second I think we pay full rates). The wording sounded like you could get £3k if you did not pay business rates but as others have said the detail is missing.

We have not had cancellations yet but we do have growing gaps that would have normally been booked by now. Even an upside of £3k I still think we have a difficult journey ahead.

I at least hope that they relax the FHL occupancy requirements.
Drax
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Post by Drax »

ianh100 wrote: I at least hope that they relax the FHL occupancy requirements.
I am also wondering if HMRC will relax the 105 day rule with regard to FHL.
Though it is 'early days' I suspect that it will be a tough year ahead and for many of us we will just not have the bookings to satisfy this requirement due to the pandemic.
Keep your powder dry.
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

Drax wrote: Though it is 'early days' I suspect that it will be a tough year ahead and for many of us we will just not have the bookings to satisfy this requirement due to the pandemic.
On the other hand, you may find that bookings surge as people are less willing to venture abroad.

Mols
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
Eagerbeaver
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Post by Eagerbeaver »

I think a booking surge after this period of uncertainty is more likely in the UK. It's hardly surprising that bookings are dead just now.

The problem comes if the Government decide to impose travel restrictions. I think they will be very reluctant to do that unless there is a sudden demand on the NHS which can't be met.

Once we pass the peak and people start to tire of caution, I suspect that many will still be concerned of air travel and would rather have a stay in a quiet cottage in the UK than "risk" a holiday abroad.

To counter this, many holiday firms will be falling over themselves to attract travellers back onto airlines but only time will tell who will win.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

I think the problem is a broader one than the discussion has covered so far.
There are thousands and thousands of people - probably a lot more, whose jobs are at risk. The UK government have already made statements re mortgages and benefits, but a huge number of people such as self employed and this in the hospitality sector and leisure sectors will have vastly reduced incomes or none at all.

Who would consider booking a holiday under those circumstances?? The priority is to keep a roof over your head and pay basic bills.

I have accepted that this year will be a no go year. Fortunately we don’t have a mortgage on our property, but I do need to consider how I will support cleaners through this time financially.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coro ... businesses


“There will be a £3,000 cash grant to 700,000 of our smallest businesses, delivered by Local Authorities, and worth a total of £2.2 billion. Small businesses that pay little or no business rates and are eligible for Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR) or Rural Rate Relief will be contacted by their local authority - they do not need to apply. The funding will be provided to local authorities in early April. We will update GOV.UK with the details.”

It still doesn’t mention FHLs, but at least we have a little information about the process.
DaveN
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Post by DaveN »

Been away a long time, while things have been ticking over...

In this evening's speech, Sunak said:
"I also said last week that we would be providing £3,000 cash grants to to 700,000 of our smallest businesses. In light of the new circumstances, and to support their cashflow, today I can increase those cash grants to £10,000."

We've not received a single enquiry in the last 2 weeks, and have received two cancellations, with a third request for deferral of paying the balance with a view to cancel from a 3rd. I suspect more to come.

While the statement above sounds a bit good to be true, I think we're going to need it this year to break even.
Open for business.
ClareW
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Post by ClareW »

Having just heard from another FHL owner who had asked their local council about the grant and been told that there was no mention of FHL's in the budget therefore they didn't think they'd be eligible, I have just rung my local council. Just rang the business rate department of my local council and he seemed to know even less than me! He said they had heard and been told nothing at all yet about it and that it had been a total surprise to the local councils when it was announced and to get back in touch in a month or so if I hadn't heard anything.... doesn't fill you with confidence.
It would be interesting to hear what other local councils response is.
Andy & Lana
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Post by Andy & Lana »

Doubtless like many others, we have had nothing but cancellations in the last few weeks, and no new bookings - and with the current measures revolving around a 12-week timeframe (taking us into early June) we're fully expecting the dozen remaing nights in our diary during that period to cancel soon...
....in mid to late June and again in mid-July we have small batches of bookings associated with the Eden Project's 'Eden Sessions', and if those concerts are cancelled (which we fully expect to happen) then those will go too - our only other advance bookings are a handful in July and August (we tend not to have many made very far in advance), and as things progress it's realistic to assume that 12 weeks will actually become longer, meaning those will also go in due course...
....as has been mentioned, whenever this is eventually over we too suspect people will have far more important things to worry about than taking holidays, so we're not expecting to see any sudden surge - basically, as someone else has said, we can probably write this year off entirely...
....we have the luxury of being mortgage-free, but do have the usual monthly expenses. Despite the lack of business there's still the channel manager and card facility fees; water, gas, electric, and phone/internet bills; TV licence; we don't employ anyone, but will still support the window cleaner - there's also the council tax for our residential part of the property...
....so anything we can get to tide us over is welcome. We only had this year's SBBR notice in the post a few days ago, so hopefully we'll be hearing from them again in the next few weeks - if we're eligible for the full £10,000, we will be among the lucky ones who will survive the year...
....assuming, of course, that we survive the disease itself...
Took the plunge, bought a guest house!
DaveN
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Post by DaveN »

ClareW wrote:...there was no mention of FHL's in the budget therefore they didn't think they'd be eligible...
The guidance at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... businesses

Says:
"The government will provide additional funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBBR). This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to businesses currently eligible for SBRR or rural rate relief, to help meet their ongoing business costs.

If your business is eligible for SBRR or rural rate relief, you will be contacted by your local authority – you do not need to apply".

There is no mention of any other criteria, other then being eligible for SBRR, so I'm hoping this is the full story.

The North Norfolk District Council tell me that no further guidance has been issued yet, so there isn't really any point in asking for any more information at the moment.
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Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

Looks like it will apply to any business qualifying for the SBBR. Also, the amount may be going up to £10,000
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
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