From 8 June 2020, tenants or occupiers of premises such as shared office spaces, business incubators and shared industrial units for which the landlord is the registered rate payer may be eligible for a single, one-off £10,000 small business grant. Eligibility for such small businesses is subject to detailed verification criteria but irrespective of the use or rateable value of the property. A tenant/occupier may only receive a single grant.
Important Notes
These payments are grants. A grant awarded on a valid application, does not need to be refunded by the recipient.
Information provided by an applicant will be verified against other information sources held by this Council. This will assist timely application processing, fraud prevention and for auditing purposes.
Councils will aim to make payment within 10 working days from receipt of a fully completed application and once all information and evidence in support of an application has been verified. Applications may be subject to delay if incomplete or incorrect details are supplied.
If a grant is awarded on the basis of false or inaccurate information, it may result in arrangements being made to recover the award, and legal proceedings being initiated.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for a one-off payment of £10,000, the following statements must apply to your business. Applicants must provide supporting documentation for each statement
1. You were in occupation of the premises and have a lease signed by the landlord prior to 17 March 2020; the lease was valid at 17 March 2020.
Evidence of a lease is required. The applicant may be required to provide evidence confirming that the tenant/occupier contributes to charges associated with non-domestic rates. When uploading the lease applicants should reference the relevant page numbers which indicate they contribute to non-domestic rates charges.
The tenant/occupier must be legally and wholly distinct from the landlord or other party with whom they have a lease/rental agreement; there must be no common ownership, directorship or other condition which suggests the landlord stands to gain directly from the endowment of a grant to the tenant/occupier.
2. You employed one or more staff (not including yourself or a partner or director in the business) on 17 March 2020.
Evidence can include, but is not limited to; a payroll records from February-March 2020; HMRC PAYE registration and reports for February-March 2020 or prior; and/or successful application to the Coronavirus Job Retention (“Furlough”) Scheme
3. Your business is a partnership or company registered with Companies House on or prior to 17 March 2020.
Evidence should include trading name, registered name & Company Reference Number. For partnerships, a copy of the partnership agreement.
Additional supporting documents such HMRC tax return, employer liability insurance may also be required
4. You use a business bank account.
No payments will be made to personal accounts. Evidence should include a statement showing business transactions through that account for the period including 17 March 2020.
Where possible it should also support other elements in this section including details of wage payments or rent.
5. You have NOT previously received support from the UK or Scottish Government, including through any of the following Schemes:
- SBGF
- RHL Grant Fund (RHLGF)
- Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund
- Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund
- Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund
- Self-Employed Income Support Scheme
- Third Sector Resilience Fund
Business which are eligible for cash grants via other UK or Scottish Government Schemes are ineligible for funding through this amendment
6. The property you occupy is NOT one of the following listed property types. (Property types can be checked by inputting your property details into Scottish Assessors Association website):
- Advertising
- Anemometer Mast
- ATM Site
- Boathouse
- Bothy
- Burial Ground
- Cable
- Car Park
- Car Space
- Castle
- Common Room
- Coup
- Deer Forest
- Display Area
- Electricity
- Fishing Hut
- Fuel Tank
- Gallop
- Game Larder
- Grazings
- Ground
- Hangar
- Heliport
- Holiday Hut
- Hut
- Jetty
- Land
- Lighthouse
- Lock-Up
- Mast
- Monitoring Site
- Oil Tank
- Parking Bay
- Peat Moss
- Pier
- Pigeon Loft
- Public Toilet
- Quarry
- Sand & Gravel
- Shootings
- Site
- Site Huts
- Slipway
- Stance
- Taxi Rank
- Telecommunications
- Time Share Units
- Traffic Monitoring
- Waste
- Wastewater Treatment
- Water
- Weighbridge
- Wind turbine
- Yard