Businesses in England that fall within local lockdown areas and are required to close* will now be able to claim up to £1,500 per property for every three weeks of closure.
The Government announced the new scheme on Wednesday 9 September, in an effort to protect jobs where a business is required to close due to local Covid 19 restrictions.
Large business grants:
If a business occupies a premises with a rateable value of £51,000 or above, or occupies a property or part of a property subject to an annual rent or mortgage payment of exactly £51,000 or above, it will receive £1,500.
Small business grants:
If a business occupies a premises with a rateable value less than £51,000, or occupies a property or part of a property subject to an annual rent or mortgage payment of less than £51,000, it will receive £1,000.
Other businesses:
If businesses do not appear on the business rates list, local authorities will have discretion to offer financial support to those businesses affected by closures. Payments made to businesses from this local authority discretionary fund can be any amount up to £1,500, and may be less than £1,000 in some cases.
Grant payments will be triggered by a national decision to close businesses in areas considered to have a high incidence of COVID-19. Each payment will be made for a 3 week lockdown period. Each new 3 week lockdown period triggers an additional payment.
The closure grants are available irrespective of additional support that may have been received via existing Government support schemes available to companies affected by COVID-19, including the furlough scheme, government backed loans and business grants.
As with other Covid business grants, local grants to closed businesses will be treated as taxable income.
Local authorities will be responsible for distributing the grants to businesses in circumstances where they are closed due to local interventions.
*Any businesses that remain closed at a national level (e.g. nightclubs), will not be eligible for this ‘closure’ grant.
