The Salon Rates Relief 'Thousands Could Save' Hinges on a Number Treasury Hasn't Picked

Thousands of salons could stop paying business rates altogether, Professional Beauty reported, if the Autumn Budget raises the Small Business Rates Relief threshold. The catch is that the number is not yet set. Treasury officials have floated figures ranging from roughly £17,096, which would simply restore the 100% relief cutoff to its inflation-adjusted 2017 value, up to £20,000, according to reporting by the Telegraph on 18 September. Nothing has been confirmed, and the gap between those two figures determines whether this is a modest technical correction or a genuine giveaway.

The threshold itself has not moved since 2017: salons with a rateable value up to £12,000 already pay nothing, with relief tapering out at £15,000. Both figures predate two VOA revaluations and have never been inflation-indexed, which is the actual regulatory gap driving this story rather than any new announcement. A 2019 National Hairdressers' Federation survey found that roughly two-thirds of salons already pay no rates under the existing £12,000 line, so the population that would newly fall into relief at a higher threshold is smaller than headline framing suggests, concentrated among mid-sized salons sitting just above today's cutoff.

That threshold debate sits alongside a structural change already in force since April 2026, when England replaced its two-tier rates system with five multipliers. Retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £51,000 rateable value now pay a 38.2p multiplier instead of the old capped relief scheme, while properties above £500,000 pay a new 50.8p rate. For many salons, the nationwide VOA revaluation that accompanied this change offset or outweighed the benefit of the lower multiplier, which helps explain why rates keep surfacing as a sector grievance regardless of what happens to the SBRR threshold this autumn.

The sharper, already-decided story is who got left out. Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government has confirmed a separate 20% rates discount for pubs, social clubs and live music venues from April 2027, following pressure from the pub industry, and it explicitly excludes hairdressers, barbershops, beauty salons and aesthetics clinics. The British Beauty Council called the carve-out a "slap in the face," with chief executive Millie Kendall and chief policy and standards officer Victoria Brownlie arguing personal care is being "left in the cold" despite contributing comparably to local high streets, according to the British Beauty Council. The National Hairdressers' and Beauty Federation's head of policy, Sam Silver, has pressed the same complaint, while the Federation separately lobbies for a VAT cut to 10% for hairdressing, pointing to Ireland's move from 13.5% to 9% in July 2026.

On the ground, the arithmetic behind both campaigns is already showing up in closures. The Yorkshire Post reported salon owners describing being "treated like corporate giants" under a uniform rates structure that takes no account of turnover, a complaint that will outlast whatever threshold number the Chancellor settles on come 28 October.