There is a raft of support available to all types of businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak, including emergency loans and the job retention scheme, but Simon Gerrard, managing director of London agent Martyn Gerrard, is urging agents to ensure they make use of grants.
The grants are available to firms with property that has a rateable value below £51,000 who have been given exemptions from business rates.
They were initially announced after the Budget on March 11th, but Gerrard – a past NAEA president – is warning that it hasn’t been clear that agents can get these grants as the business rate relief wasn’t expanded to this sector until March 25th.
He has successfully applied for grants for three of his 11 branches and is now applying for his head office and remaining locations.
He said: “We are claiming for our branches and are being paid for it.
“You can find the forms on the council website covering where your branch or office is.
“The grants were widely reported as being available to retail businesses but agents were only added to this category later.
“If you want your business to survive, you have the opportunity of a cash injection
“We don’t know what coming out of lockdown will look like, but we won’t be able to turn a switch straight away and will need to have as much cash available as possible.”
The Government launched two business grant schemes, administered by local authorities, last month.
The Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLG), were announced on March 11 and 17 respectively.
SBGF is available to businesses already in receipt of either Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rates Relief (RRR) in the business rates system and they can get a payment of £10,000.
Under the RHLG, eligible businesses – including estate agents – in England who are in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be eligible for a cash grants of £10,000 or £25,000 per property.
You can’t use both grants on the same property and need to apply through your local council.
Comments (12)
Is anyone aware of how this works if your office is in a office block? Our landlords agent doesnt seem to know who pays the business rates and there is no mention of it in our contract?
I received the grant for office 1. I have applied for office 2, but have been told we are not eligible, as we were not in receipt of SBRR for that office at the time (we are eligible though).
Tried to contact the council, but there is no option to talk to anyone and they do not have an email address. Does anyone know if we would qualify for office two under the retail?
Same for me…. offices in three authorities. Two have paid out and one says ineligible!
Couldn’t agree more, theres little in the way of proper notification…in the last month I have came across a combination of ….a commercial tenant of a unit I own not applying for the grant as she incorrectly assumed it was a loan ! (now in receipt of funds) a residential tenant of mine who also runs a small business having absolutely no knowledge of the grant (rectified this week) and another local business owner I consider to be quite savvy who also had no knowledge of the grant (now in receipt of funds).. all of these came about as I had called them to check if they had applied…
Applied for ours on 5th April and still not received it as at today. Derby City Council hopeless. Can’t contact them by phone – fob you off with a ‘special’ number who then tell you to email the business rates section from whom you get no reply.
Other agents I have spoken to got theirs within a few days.
JW – I take it you’re not in Derby!!
Write to mp and cc council.
That might wake some one up.
It is very easy to apply for and I urge all – particularly those small agents like myself- to use this useful “payback”. My own Council, quote amazingly, sent us £25,000 within 2 days of them receiving the Government grant and without us asking. The only good thing they’ve done in about 20 years….
You would have to have been living on a different planet not to have an understanding of what’s available to you. If you haven’t made the effort to find out then you obviously don’t need the cash.
Bit judgemental jackoTLG. We can’t all know everything.
Your job as the business owner is to find out, and quick. You can make excuses for people all day but I’m not
I know many businesses who are confusing the grants with the 0% loans.
These people won’t have a business in 12 months then