23 April 2021This applies to councils in England and Wales.
The Bill to give 100% relief from business rates to public lavatories has been passed by both Houses of Parliament. Royal Assent is expected on Thursday 29 April. SLCC would like to thank all those councils which participated in the long-running campaign for this relief.
The relief will be backdated to 1 April 2020 (but not earlier years). We await guidance on the procedure for reclaiming business rates paid on public lavatories for 2020/21 and 2021/22.
The relief applies only to stand-alone public lavatories (whoever operates them and whether or not a charge is made for admission) and not to lavatories forming part of a larger building such as a library or community centre.
