COVID-19: All dental practices require business rates relief
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 20th March 2020
The British Dental Association (BDA) has urged government to extend the Business Rates Retail Discount of 100% currently offered to leisure and hospitality sectors to dental practices, to ease potentially crippling losses from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Currently the properties benefiting from the relief including shops, restaurants, cafes and cinemas, live music venues and hotels. Premises that are used by dentists, doctors and others are currently excluded.
While NHS practices currently recieve some help with rates private practices receive no support. In an open letter to Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick, the BDA has called for a full extension of relief to all practices.
The Chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee Dave Cottam said:
“Dentistry is all but impossible during this time, and a collapse in patient numbers will likely decimate the income of dental practices.
“Lifting business rates to ease this shock is the right approach, and must be applied to dentistry. Failure to support both NHS and private practices will only lead to loss of skilled and qualified jobs, as well as to hardship for staff.
“The government must be consistent as it sets out to protect the high street from the full impact of this pandemic.”
