Some properties are eligible for discounts from the local council on their business rates . This is called ‘business rates relief’. Rates relief is handled differently if your property is in Scotland , your property is in Wales or your property is in Northern Ireland . You have to contact your local council to see if you’re eligible and apply for: small business rate relief rural rate relief charitable rate relief enterprise zone relief hardship relief retail, hospitality and leisure relief local newspaper relief COVID-19 additional relief fund Your council automatically applies: exempted buildings and empty buildings relief transitional relief if your rates change by more than a certain amount at revaluation Contact your local council if you’re not getting a relief you think you’re entitled to. If your premises are affected by local disruption You may get a temporary reduction in your business rates if your premises are affected by severe local disruption (like flooding, building or roadworks). You can report that something external to your premises in England has affected its value using your business rates valuation account . There’s a different way to report that something external to your premises in Wales has affected its value .

Small business rate relief

You can get small business rate relief if: your property’s rateable value is less than £15,000 your business only uses one property - you may still be able to get relief if you use more Contact your local council to apply for small business rate relief. What you get You will not pay business rates on a property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less. For properties with a rateable value of £12,001 to £15,000, the rate of relief will go down gradually from 100% to 0%. Examples If your rateable value is £13,500, you’ll get 50% off your bill. If your rateable value is £14,000, you’ll get 33% off. If you use more than one property When you get a second property, you’ll keep getting any existing relief on your main property for 12 months. You can still get small business rate relief on your main property after this if both the following apply: none of your other properties have a rateable value above £2,899 the total rateable value of all your properties is less than £20,000 (£28,000 in London) You’re a small business but do not qualify for small business rate relief If your property in England has a rateable value below £51,000, your bill will be calculated using the small business multiplier, which is lower than the standard one. This is the case even if you do not get small business rate relief. The small business multiplier is 49.9p and the standard multiplier is 51.2p from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022. The multipliers may be different in the City of London .

You could get rural rate relief if your business is in a rural area with a population below 3,000. You will not pay business rates if your business is in an eligible area and either: the only village shop or post office, with a rateable value of up to £8,500 the only public house or petrol station, with a rateable value of up to £12,500 Contact your local council to check you’re eligible and to apply for rural rate relief.

Charitable rate relief

Charities and community amateur sports clubs can apply for charitable rate relief of up to 80% if a property is used for charitable purposes. Contact your local council to: check if you’re eligible find out if they can top up the discount to 100% (called ‘discretionary relief’) If you’re not eligible for charitable rate relief You may still be able to get discretionary relief if you’re a non-profit or voluntary organisation. Contact your council to find out.

If you’re starting up or relocating to an enterprise zone you could qualify for business rates relief. The council works out how the relief is applied. You could get up to £55,000 a year over 5 years. Find your local enterprise zone to check whether it offers business rates relief, and how and when to apply.

Exempted buildings and empty buildings relief

There are different rules for exempted buildings and empty properties. Exempted buildings Certain properties are exempt from business rates. You may not have to pay business rates on: agricultural land and buildings, including fish farms buildings used for training or welfare of disabled people buildings registered for public religious worship or church halls However, there are strict legal requirements for these exemptions. If your property is in England, you can report that you think it should be exempt using your business rates valuation account . There’s a different way to report exemptions if your property is in Wales . Empty properties You do not have to pay business rates on empty buildings for 3 months. After this time, most businesses must pay full business rates. Some properties can get extended empty property relief: industrial premises (for example warehouses) are exempt for a further 3 months listed buildings - until they’re reoccupied buildings with a rateable value under £2,900 - until they’re reoccupied properties owned by charities - only if the property’s next use will be mostly for charitable purposes community amateur sports clubs buildings - only if the next use will be mostly as a sports club Contact your local council to let them know when your property becomes vacant.

In England, councils can reduce your business rates bill with hardship relief. To be eligible, you must satisfy your council that both: you would be in financial difficulties without it giving hardship relief to you is in the interests of local people Contact your local council and explain your situation if you think you’re eligible.

Transitional relief limits how much your bill can change each year as a result of business rates revaluation . This means changes to your bill are phased in gradually, if you’re eligible. You get transitional relief if your: property is in England rates go up or down by more than a certain amount Your council will adjust your bill automatically if you’re eligible. How much your bill can change by How much your bill can change by from one year to the next depends on both: your property’s rateable value whether your bill is increasing or decreasing as a result of revaluation You stop getting transitional relief when your bill reaches the full amount set by a revaluation. The business rates year is from 1 April to 31 March the following year. If your bill is increasing Rateable value 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) 5.0% 7.5% 10.0% 15.0% 15.0% 20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 12.5% 17.5% 20.0% 25.0% 25.0% Over £100,000 42.0% 32.0% 49.0% 16.0% 6.0% If your bill is decreasing Rateable value 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) 20.0% 30.0% 35.0% 55.0% 55.0% 20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 25.0% Over £100,000 4.1% 4.6% 5.9% 5.8% 4.8% If you’ve received a transitional certificate The transitional certificate value will be used in the business rates calculation for your property instead of the usual rateable value. If you disagree with the value of the certificate, contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) .

Retail, hospitality and leisure relief

Retail, hospitality and leisure relief replaced the retail discount on 1 April 2022. You could qualify for retail, hospitality and leisure relief if your business is mainly being used as a: shop restaurant, café, bar or pub cinema or music venue hospitality or leisure business - for example, a gym, a spa or a hotel Contact your local council to find out if you’re eligible. What you’ll get If you’re eligible, you could get 50% off your business rates bills for the 2022 to 2023 tax year (1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023) - up to a total value of £110,000 per business. You may be able to get retail, hospitality and leisure relief on top of other types of business rates relief you’re eligible for. Contact your local council to check. If you opt out of retail, hospitality and leisure relief for the 2022 to 2023 tax year you cannot change your mind. Retail discount for the tax year 2021 to 2022 The retail discount ended on 1 April 2022. If you were eligible for the retail discount, you cannot get business rates relief under the COVID-19 additional relief fund. You would have been eligible for the retail discount if your business was mainly being used as a: shop restaurant, café, bar or pub cinema or music venue hospitality or leisure business - for example, a gym, a spa or a hotel Contact your local council to find out more about eligibility.

Local newspaper relief

You could get local newspaper relief if your property is used as office premises for journalists and reporters on a local newspaper. The relief is a £1,500 reduction in business rates for eligible properties per year. You can only get the relief for one property per newspaper even if more than one property is used as offices for the newspaper. If several local newspapers use the same office, they can only get the relief on one newspaper title. Contact your local council to find out if you’re eligible. You cannot get the relief for magazines.

COVID-19 additional relief fund

You may be able to get business rates relief under the COVID-19 additional relief fund if both of the following apply: your business has been affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) your business was not eligible for retail discount , nurseries discount or the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) , whether you applied for them or not Contact your local council to find out if you’re eligible for the COVID-19 additional relief fund and apply.

The nurseries discount ended on 1 April 2022. If you were eligible for the nurseries discount, you cannot get business rates relief under the COVID-19 additional relief fund. You would have been eligible for the nurseries discount if both of the following applied: your business was on Ofsted’s Early Years Register your premises was wholly or mainly used to provide the Early Years Foundation Stage of education Contact your local council to find out more about eligibility.

Business rates relief

Overview

Some properties are eligible for discounts from the local council on their business rates. This is called ‘business rates relief’.

Rates relief is handled differently if your property is in Scotland, your property is in Wales or your property is in Northern Ireland.

You have to contact your local council to see if you’re eligible and apply for:

Your council automatically applies:

exempted buildings and empty buildings relief
transitional relief if your rates change by more than a certain amount at revaluation

Contact your local council if you’re not getting a relief you think you’re entitled to.

If your premises are affected by local disruption

You may get a temporary reduction in your business rates if your premises are affected by severe local disruption (like flooding, building or roadworks).

You can report that something external to your premises in England has affected its value using your business rates valuation account.

There’s a different way to report that something external to your premises in Wales has affected its value.

View a printable version of the whole guide

Business rates relief

Overview

If your premises are affected by local disruption

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Business rates relief

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