Labour urges chancellor to freeze music venue rates

Nearly 50 Labour MPs have written to the chancellor, urging an immediate halt to a proposed rise in business rates for music venues, warning that the revaluation could push many establishments towards closure.

In a letter seen by the BBC, the MPs appealed to Rachel Reeves to pause the revaluation due to take effect from April, arguing that it could lead to business rates bill increases for music venues of between 45% and 275%.

The letter highlights the “existential threat” faced by the sector as rising costs coincide with the withdrawal of pandemic-era support. This plea comes as the chancellor is developing a support package for pubs, under pressure from the hospitality industry and Labour backbenchers, which is expected to be announced imminently.

In her November Budget, Reeves reduced business rates discounts introduced during the pandemic from 75% to 40% and confirmed that all discounts will end entirely from April. This move has already sparked backlash across the hospitality sector, with around 1,000 pubs reportedly banning Labour politicians from their premises in protest.

The MPs’ intervention underscores concern that any forthcoming support package could be too narrowly focused on pubs, leaving other parts of the hospitality and cultural economy, including live music venues and hotels, vulnerable to significant cost increases. The letter was coordinated by Anneliese Midgley, a Liverpool MP and member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and is signed by several Labour MPs who also sit on the committee.

“Many of us have been contacted by constituents in recent months who use and run these critical music spaces, explaining that they will be severely impacted by the 2026 business rates revaluation,” the letter states. It calls on the Treasury to cancel the April increase until a new and less damaging method of valuing music venues can be developed. The MPs also urge ministers to extend support to recording studios, warning that up to half of them could be at risk under the new valuations.

Industry groups have long argued that business rates disproportionately penalise venues reliant on physical space and live audiences, and that sharp rises could accelerate the loss of grassroots music venues across the UK. The Treasury has been approached for comment.