Properties with a rateable value under £500,000 will benefit from permanently lower business rates.
The UK Autumn Budget 2025 has delivered a mixed picture for the holiday park, caravan park, and hospitality sectors, offering targeted relief for smaller operators but leaving broader structural challenges unresolved.
From April 2026, more than 750,000 retail, leisure, and hospitality properties with a rateable value under £500,000 will benefit from permanently lower business rates multipliers, alongside a £4.3 billion transitional support package. For small holiday parks and caravan sites, this provides welcome certainty and could ease cashflow pressures, particularly for family-run and independent operations.
However, the picture is less rosy for larger operators. Properties with rateable values over £500,000 face a higher multiplier, increasing costs for major holiday parks, hotels, and leisure complexes. Coupled with rising wage pressures—the National Living Wage will rise to £12.71/hour for workers aged 21+ and £10.85/hour for 18–20-year- olds from April 2026—the budget may force larger businesses to make tough operational and investment decisions.
"The Budget offers short-term relief for smaller operators but leaves structural challenges unresolved." - Amanda French, Head of Retail & Leisure at Clarke Willmott LLP
Hospitality alone is expected to face £1.4 billion in additional employment costs next year. Tourist levies, potentially introduced by English mayors, also pose a risk to visitor numbers, with holiday parks and seaside resorts particularly exposed. On a positive note, the budget offers a 40% First Year Allowance for plant and machinery and full expensing for qualifying assets, supporting investment in lodges, leisure facilities, and retail improvements.
Amanda French, Head of Retail & Leisure at Clarke Willmott LLP, said: “The Budget offers short-term relief for smaller operators but leaves structural challenges unresolved. Wage pressures, fiscal drag, and tourist levies risk dampening demand and profitability across all sectors. However, certainty now may help restore consumer confidence and encourage spending over the Christmas period, providing resilience for holiday parks, caravan sites, and hospitality venues alike.”
While smaller parks may breathe a little easier, the Autumn Budget underscores the ongoing need for strategic planning and careful cost management across the wider sector.
