Trade and Cooperation Agreement (previously De Minimis State Aid)

Ratepayers should note that certain types of non-domestic rates relief is capped by the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement de minimis threshold. 

Legislation set a cap on the aggregate financial amount that can be awarded in the form of specified non-domestic rates reliefs. In calculating the cap, regard must be had to relief or assistance that prior to EU Exit would have been considered de minimis State aid.

There is currently a ceiling of £315k that can be granted over any three year rolling period to any single undertaking. You must consider whether you have already received support from any public sector body in the current and previous two accounting (fiscal) years.

The specified reliefs now subject to these measures are:

  • Renewable Energy relief
  • Enterprise Areas relief
  • Telephone Mast relief
  • Rural relief
  • District Heating relief
  • Transitional relief and
  • Day Nursery relief
  • Any relief awarded under the Coronavirus Reliefs legislation

To ensure that we comply with the subsidy regime, we may be required to cap this relief. This may depend on:

  • whether or not you have an interest in any business with other properties which is in receipt, or eligible, for one of the existing rate relief schemes
  • the level of other public sector assistance received by the economic actor making the application

If you consider that you, or any other company you have a single undertaking relationship with in the UK, have already received  support from UK, Scottish and Local Government in excess of, or close to, this sum you must declare this if applying for any further support. Not all grants or relief awards are considered to be capped in this way therefore we will only ask for this information where appropriate.