Small Business Grants

librarypf

i wonder if anyone can shed some light. My business suffered and still is during Covid. Without going into too much detail my business was affected because other industries were closed/affected. I am not in the retail sector. You could apply for a Small Business Grant last year which i believe was £10,000 if your Rateable Value was under £15k. Mine was £15750, so just over. I had challenged it before, a couple of years ago and was unsuccessful. However, i have just challenged it again and it has been agreed and brought down to £14500, so under the £15k threshold for the grant. This means i should have been eligible for this grant last year, which really would have helped with rent payments etc. The VOA are in the process of telling my local council it has changed which means i should get a rebate on overpayments. However my question is, would i be eligible for either a backdated Small Bus Grant? Or eligible to apply for the Discretionary Grant because of these circumstances? I don't forsee my business getting back to 'normal' until the end of the year with things still being postponed because of the travel restrictions etc. Any thoughts appreciated. I have emailed my local council but no reply thus far.

ellie99

I missed out on the £10k grant last year as I didn't have my business rates sorted with the VOA. Later in 2020 they did backdate my rates to 2017, but the local council were very clear (it was in their written terms) that backdated wasn't enough - it was the situation my business was in at the qualifying date in March 2020. 

So no harm in asking your council, but don't be surprised if the answer is No. I expect all councils will be following the same rules.