Registration is now open for businesses to apply for the £10,000 Small Business Grant Scheme. Please act now if appropriate.
Automatic payments will be made to those eligible businesses whose bank account details are held for the purposes of paying rates by Direct Debit. The first payment in the Small Business Support Grant Scheme will be made on 31 March if not before.
Eligible businesses that don’t currently pay business rates by Direct Debit can register for the scheme and provide their bank details by completing an online registration form.
Click the link to access the application form. If your details are in order the grant you should expect to receive your grant around five working days after completion of the application.
A reminder of eligibility:
The NI Executive is providing a one-off grant of £10,000 to businesses that are currently in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR), subject to some exclusions.
- SBRR is automatically applied to business properties with a rateable value below £15,000, though some exclusions to SBRR apply.
- Vacant properties are not eligible for this grant
- MLA Constituency offices are not eligible for this grant
Business with multiple premises will only be eligible for one grant of £10,000 in total.
For rental properties, the scheme is being designed to benefit the small businesses and not the landlord who is responsible for paying the rates. For this reason, no grant payments are being automatically issued to landlords of properties with a rateable value of £1,590 or less. Arrangements are being put in place to contact the landlord and small businesses concerned.
