Business Grant Rejection

Amitp

I took on a lease on 9th March and occupied the site straight away and started refurbishment work immediately.
I believe we qualify for the £25k grant as we are retail, £27k rates value for business rates and have occupied the premised and are unable to open and trade due to the government restrictions which has caused us to lose time and money and have no income at all due to new business and can't even claim on furlough or self employed benefits but still have to pay rent to landlord.
The local authority has rejected my claim for the grant on the basis that I wasn't trading and not accessible to the public which is impossible if I can't get opened and have builders in currently, but the government guildlines state nowhere that we have to be trading and be accessible to the public so I believe I have a case to somehow appeal this.

Can someone in the know please advise me if I am in fact correct or not and if so how I can overturn the local authority decision.
Thanks 
Amit

sharpe106

Are you a new business or have you just moved to a new place?

[Deleted User]

Amitp said:

I took on a lease on 9th March and occupied the site straight away and started refurbishment work immediately.
I believe we qualify for the £25k grant as we are retail, £27k rates value for business rates and have occupied the premised and are unable to open and trade due to the government restrictions which has caused us to lose time and money and have no income at all due to new business and can't even claim on furlough or self employed benefits but still have to pay rent to landlord.
The local authority has rejected my claim for the grant on the basis that I wasn't trading and not accessible to the public which is impossible if I can't get opened and have builders in currently, but the government guildlines state nowhere that we have to be trading and be accessible to the public so I believe I have a case to somehow appeal this.

Can someone in the know please advise me if I am in fact correct or not and if so how I can overturn the local authority decision.
Thanks 
Amit

 If you were not trading you're not a business? 

Jeremy535897

Your problem is that to be eligible for the RHL grant, you need to meet the following condition:
"24. Hereditaments which on the 11 March 2020 had a rateable value of less than £51,000 and would have been eligible for a discount under the business rates Expanded Retail Discount Scheme had that scheme been in force for that date are eligible for the grant. Charities which would otherwise meet this criteria but whose bill for 11 March had been reduced to nil by a local discretionary award should still be considered to be eligible for the RHL grant."

You don't meet it, as the council says, because you don't meet the second criterion here:
"16. The list below sets out the types of uses that the Government does not consider to be an eligible use for the purpose of this relief. Again, it is for local authorities to determine for themselves whether particular properties are broadly similar in nature to those below and, if so, to consider them not eligible for the relief under their local scheme.
i. Hereditaments that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public
 − Financial services (e.g. banks, building societies, cash points, bureaux de change, short-term loan providers)
 − Medical services (e.g. vets, dentists, doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors)
 − Professional services (e.g. solicitors, accountants, insurance agents/ financial advisers)
 − Post office sorting offices
ii. Hereditaments that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public."

There is an exception where the business is not open to the public because of COVID 19 restrictions, but it depends whether you ever opened, or were closed first due to refurbishments.. Read the Expanded RHL guidance here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/877758/Expanded_Retail_Discount_Guidance_02.04.20.pdf
The guidance to LAs on the grant schemes is here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878807/business_support_grants-local_authorities_guidance.pdf

Amitp

sharpe106 said:

Are you a new business or have you just moved to a new place?

Hi,
We are a new business.

[Deleted User]

Amitp said:

sharpe106 said:

Are you a new business or have you just moved to a new place?

Hi,
We are a new business.

 So you are actually up and running a business and were so prior to covid? 

Amitp

No we took on the lease and completed on March 9th and start refurbishment works in same day.
Also as we are a new limited company with trading history for this actually premises we can't apply for any loans and I can't even get any furloughed income either and still have liable to pay rent which is the landlord perogative. So am really stuck between a rock and a hard place financially as can't complete works and open shop even if I wanted to.