Business rates relief
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.
You cannot get the relief for:
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magazines
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online newspapers that are not printed
What you’ll get
The relief is a £1,500 reduction in business rates per year for eligible properties.
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.
How to get local newspaper relief
Local councils manage business rates relief in their area.
Contact your local council to:
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check if you’re eligible
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find out how to get local newspaper relief
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check if you can get any other types of business rates relief on top of local newspaper relief
Local newspaper relief will end on 31 March 2025. From 1 April 2025, you’ll need to pay business rates in full if you’re not eligible for another kind of relief.
If your circumstances change
Report changes to make sure you’re paying the right amount and do not get a backdated increase in your bill or overpay.
Contact your local council if:
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your property becomes empty
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you get another property
- you make any changes to your property that would increase its value - for example, extending or renovating it
- the nature of your business changes or it moves to different premises
If you stop being eligible for local newspaper relief, you’ll usually need to pay your new rate starting from the day your circumstances changed.
If you think you should be getting local newspaper rate relief but are not
Contact your local council if you’re not getting local newspaper rate relief and you think you’re eligible for it.
If you’re not eligible for local newspaper relief
You may be eligible for another type of business rate relief. For example, if:
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your newspaper is a small business
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you are in financial difficulty