Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill: Motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 2B

On 31 March 2025, the House of Commons voted 301 to 104 to reject Lords Amendment 2B to the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill. The amendment, passed by the House of Lords, would have exempted anchor stores (large retail premises such as major department stores and supermarkets) from the new higher business rates multiplier that applies to properties with rateable values of £500,000 or above. By voting to disagree with the Lords, MPs kept those large retail properties within scope of the higher multiplier. The vote matters because the higher multiplier is the mechanism by which the government intends to fund a permanent lower business rates relief for smaller retail, hospitality and leisure premises from April 2026. Keeping anchor stores within scope maintains the revenue base for that relief. Opponents argued that the £500,000 threshold is too blunt an instrument, catching major high street department stores and supermarkets rather than the online retail giants the policy was originally described as targeting, and that the resulting cost increases would be passed on to consumers through higher prices. Labour MPs voted unanimously in favour of rejecting the Lords amendment, with 297 Labour and Labour and Co-operative Party members voting aye and none voting no. Conservatives voted 94 to zero against the government, joined by Reform UK (4), the Democratic Unionist Party (4), and several smaller unionist parties. Three Greens and three independents voted with the government. The vote was one of several on the same bill on the same day, with the Commons also disagreeing with Lords amendments on healthcare premises, a review clause, and private school rate relief, all by similar margins.