Official Statistics

National non-domestic rates collected by local authorities in England 2024 to 2025

Published 24 September 2025

Applies to England

This release provides data on non-domestic rating income collected by local authorities in 2024-25, including data relating to the amount of business rates reliefs given to businesses. There are changes from year to year such as changes to reliefs, multipliers and periodic revaluations that mean, figures are not directly comparable to those in other years. The data in this version of the release are based on the returns received by 12 September 2025. This release is based on provisional data from 296 authorities. We will update this release in due course, as final data become available.

1. In this release:

• Local authorities reported that the non-domestic rates income for 2024-25 was £26.4 billion. This amount is what authorities collected after all reliefs, accounting adjustments and sums retained outside the rates retention scheme are taken into consideration.

• Local authorities reported that they granted a total of £8.6 billion of relief from business rates in 2024-25. Of this £5.9 billion was the cost of mandatory relief and £2.7 billion was the cost of discretionary relief, of which £2.5 billion was the retail, hospitality and leisure relief.

• Total relief provided to charitable occupations (that is both mandatory and discretionary relief) amounted to £2.4 billion in respect of 2024-25.

• Authorities granted £2.1 billion relief under the Small Business Rate relief scheme for 2024-25.

• Local authorities reported a net decrease in appeals provision of £206 million and losses in collection of £147 million in 2024-25.

Release date: 24 September 2025
Date of next release: September 2026
Contact: nndr.statistics@communities.gov.uk (Responsible Statistician: Jo Coleman)
Media enquiries: NewsDesk@communities.gov.uk

2. Introduction

This release has been compiled by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and it provides information on national non-domestic rates and associated information for the financial years 2020-21 to 2024-25. This information has been derived from the national non-domestic rates (NNDR3) returns submitted on behalf of the 296 billing authorities that were in existence in 2024-25 in England.

Provisional returns are those that have been submitted in line with the authority’s provisional statement of accounts. Final returns are those that have been submitted following an audit or audit opinion of their accounts. This release contains data based only on provisional unaudited accounts from all 296 billing authorities. These returns have been approved by the Chief Financial Officer to confirm that the form had been completed in accordance with schedule 7B of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and the regulations made under it. We will update this release, in due course, as finalised data become available, but we do not expect to see any major changes in these figures. The next update is expected to be in 2026.

Non-domestic rates, or business rates, are collected by billing authorities and are the way in which those that occupy a non-domestic property (or hereditament) contribute towards local services. The introduction of the business rates retention scheme in 2013-14 allows local authorities to retain a proportion of the revenue that is generated in their area.

Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, such as agricultural land, parks and places of worship, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Billing authorities work out the business rates liability for every hereditament by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate multiplier. There are two multipliers, the standard non-domestic rate multiplier (previously called the non-domestic rate multiplier) and the small non-domestic rate multiplier.

The multipliers are set each financial year for England according to formula set by legislation, which, from 2018-19 have been determined by the increase in the previous September’s Consumer Price Index. Government can then cap the multiplier and compensate authorities for the loss of income through Section 31 grant. From 2024-25, the multipliers have been decoupled so that the standard and small multipliers can be set differently.

Rateable properties may be eligible for discounts or reliefs on their business rates bills. Some of these are mandatory i.e. they are automatic entitlements in any billing authority area, and some are discretionary relief which are granted at a billing authority’s discretion. As new reliefs have been introduced since the start of this series, and some of these reliefs were time limited, changes across years are not strictly comparable. Further information about the types of reliefs available are presented in Table 2.

Further details about the business rates retention scheme and an explanation of hereditaments can be found in the Definitions section of the accompanying technical document.

2.1 Technical Information

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.

Revaluation and transitional relief

Every few years, the government adjusts the rateable value of business properties to reflect changes in the property market. This is known as a revaluation. At revaluation, the government also revises the non-domestic and small business standard multipliers to reflect the aggregate change in rateable values.

The latest revaluation came into effect on the 1 April 2023 and reflects the rental market as at 1 April 2021. The tables in this release therefore show a discontinuity between 2022-23 and 2023-24 because this affects gross business rates and the amount of relief granted.

At a revaluation, the government also puts in place a transitional scheme that protects small and medium business ratepayers from significant step-changes in bills, by phasing in increases over a number of years. The cost of the transitional scheme is shown in Table 1. From 2023-24, this only reflects the revenue foregone because the bills of ratepayers are being phased down as a result of the transitional scheme. In previous years authorities reported a net cost, as previously the cost of revenue foregone by delaying increases to bills was offset by additional income raised by delaying reductions to bills.

The previous transitional scheme lasted from the 2017 revaluation to March 2022. Therefore in 2022-23, there are only transitional arrangements figures in respect of previous years. However, in 2022-23, authorities could give the same support to businesses using the supporting small business relief (a discretionary relief), meaning that the supporting small business relief granted is slightly higher than usual in 2022-23.

Small business rates relief

Small business rates relief provides 100% relief to all businesses that have a rateable value of below £12,000, and a tapering relief for businesses with a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000. The threshold at which a higher multiplier is applied is £51,000.

Multipliers

The Non Domestic Rating (NDR) Act 2023 created a number of changes to the way business rates multipliers are calculated and applied, including de-coupling the small business rating and standard rating multipliers. Previously the standard multiplier was equal to the small business rating multiplier, plus a supplement figure (originally designed to recover the cost of small business rate relief), set at 1.3p above the small multiplier. The two multipliers therefore only changed when the small business rating multiplier changed and in recent years, the small business rates multiplier has either been frozen or capped below the CPI.

From 2024-25, the Act has allowed government to treat the multipliers differently and the concept of the supplement has been removed. Both multipliers are independently linked to CPI as default. At Autumn Statement 2023, the Chancellor announced that the small business rates multiplier would be frozen at 49.9p for 2024-25 while the standard business rates multiplier would be uprated in line with September CPI from 51.2p to 54.6p.

Further details of the standard multiplier and small business rate multiplier and the new reliefs can be found in the technical notes accompanying this release.

2.2 Comparisons between years

The data presented in the tables are for the financial years 2020-21 to 2024-25, and are based on outturn data (actual data rather than forecast data). There have been a number of changes to non-domestic rates that affect the interpretation of data across multiple years.

Changes arising from the Non-Domestic Rating Act from 2024-25

(a) Decoupling of the multiplier

Authorities have provided data on gross rates and reliefs split between those on the small and standard business rating multiplier. These changes can be seen in the local authority level table.

The disaggregation of the data allows the compensation shown in Table 3 to be calculated more accurately for each relief. This means that a proportion of compensation that would previously have been calculated for the individual reliefs is now showing within the figure for the cost of compensation for the capping of the multiplier. See Table 3 for more details.

(b) From 1 April 2024, the small business multiplier’s eligibility was extended to properties below the threshold for the national multiplier at £51,000 which are vacant, on the central list or occupied by charities.

(c) From 1 April, the rural rate relief is a mandatory 100% relief, rather than a mandatory 50% relief, with a further 50% relief to be given through discretionary relief (funded and unfunded). Authorities will continue to be compensated via section 31 grant for 50% of the relief that they award, reflecting government’s decision to change the percentage rate of relief.

(d) From 1 April, the Low Carbon Heat Network relief is a mandatory relief, rather than the section 47 discretionary relief that has been in place since 1 April 2022.

(e) From 1 April 2024, Improvement relief became a mandatory relief. Regulations were not finalised in time for the 2024-25 NNDR1 forecast data collection exercise, but any relief granted in 2024-25 is presented in this release.

(f) The restriction preventing billing authorities from making a decision to award discretionary relief more than 6 months after the end of the relevant financial year has been removed. From 1 April 2024 there is no restriction in respect of the financial year 2023-24 onwards. This does not apply to years before 2023-24.

(g) Investment zones that have met the requirements to be designated will be designated in regulations. Those that have received that designation have been included in this data collection.

Revaluation

The latest revaluation came into effect on the 1 April 2023 so there is a discontinuity between 2022-23 and 2023-24. Transitional arrangements are reduced in the years after the revaluation, so transitional relief will be lower in 2024-25.

Business rates multiplier

As well as the changes to the multiplier as described above, business rates multipliers were capped in each year from 2020-21. The compensation for this cap is included in Table 3, and is affected by both the cumulative effect of capping the multiplier for the last four consecutive years, and the level of inflation in September 2023.

Additional reliefs affecting 2024-25

In the November 2023 Autumn Statement, the government announced the continuation of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief Scheme into 2024-25. This relief, previously expanded in response to the coronavirus pandemic, was continued to support businesses with significant inflationary pressures. In 2023-24 and 2024-25, eligible properties received a 75% relief on business rates, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. This was an increase from 50% in 2022-23, which was itself a decrease from 100% in 2020-21 and the first three months of 2021-22 and 66% in the remaining months of 2021-22.

In the 2024 Spring Budget, the government announced a Film Studios relief that would provide a 40% relief on their gross business rates bills until 2034. This was backdated to the 1 April 2024. This was not part of the 2024-25 NNDR1 forecast, and so collected for the first time in this 2024-25 outturn collection exercise.

3. National non-domestic rates collected by local authorities in England 2024-25

Table 1 provides details of the total amount of national non-domestic rates local authorities collected in 2024-25 and the reliefs they granted. Until 2024-25, the national non-domestic multiplier included a 1.3p supplement to fund the Small Business Rate Relief scheme, and that additional yield was deducted from the cost of the relief. As described in the introduction, the multipliers have been decoupled and the supplement is no longer used, resulting in an increase to the reported total cost of mandatory relief. Table 1a provides details on the multipliers set and the rateable values in each year. Table 1b provides a breakdown of the losses in collection and appeals provision.

The cost of transitional arrangements shown in the Table 1 since 2023-24 reflects only the revenue foregone because only increases in bills are phased down as a result of the transitional scheme. The previous scheme allowed the cost of revenue foregone by delaying increases to bills to be offset by additional income by delaying reductions to bills. This meant that a net cost of transitional arrangement was reported.

Chart 1 shows the flow from gross rates to net rates forecast in 2024-25. Chart 2 shows how gross and net rates have changed since 2013-14.

• Local authorities reported that the non-domestic rating income for 2024-25 was £26.4 billion. This amount is what authorities collected after all reliefs, accounting adjustments and sums retained outside the rates retention scheme are taken into consideration.

• Local authorities reported that they granted a total of £8.6 billion of relief from business rates in 2024-25.

• Local authorities reported a net decrease in appeals provision of £206 million in 2024-25. This was made up of an increase in the appeals provision (£909 million), minus the amount charged against the existing provision in-year (£1.1 billion).

• Local authorities reported losses in collection of £147 million in 2024-25. This was composed mostly of changes in the allowance for losses in collection (£141 million), rather than the amount lost as written off bad debt in-year (£7 million).

Table 1: National non-domestic rates collected by local authorities, England, 2020-21 to 2024-25 (all figures £ million)

Year	2020 to 2021 [Note 9]		2021 to 2022 [Note 9]		2022 to 2023 [Note 9]		2023 to 2024 [Note 10]		2024 to 2025
Gross rates payable in year	30,939		30,801		30,731	||	32,332		35,439
Total cost of reliefs [Note 1]	16,035	||	10,275	||	7,685	||	7,021	||	8,589
Of which other mandatory relief [Note 1]	4,733		5,005		4,891	||	4,539	||	5,860
Of which discretionary relief	11,302	||	5,270	||	2,794	||	2,482	||	2,728
Gross Rates Payable in year less total cost of reliefs	14,904	||	20,526	||	23,046	||	25,310	||	26,851
Net cost of transitional arrangement [Note 2]	192		182		121	||	[z]		[z]
Cost of transitional arrangement [Note 3]	[z]		[z]		[z]	||	-1,654		-432
Of which additional revenue received in current year because reduction delayed [Note 2] [Note 3]	207		147		[z]		[z]		[z]
Of which additional revenue received in respect of previous years because reduction delayed [Note 3]	47		69		75	||	116		154
(Less) of which revenue foregone in current year because reduction delayed [Note 2] [Note 3]	155		84		[z]	||	1,811		630
(Less) of which revenue foregone in respect of previous years because reduction delayed [Note 2]	-92		-50		-45	||	-42		-44
Net Rates Yield (Gross Rates Payable plus net cost of Transition)	15,096	||	20,708	||	23,166	||	23,657	||	26,419
Total cost of accounting adjustments	1,692		-211		-190	||	-218		-13
Of which losses in collection [Note 4]	822		136		176	||	163		147
Of which net addition to appeals provision [Note 5]	870		-348		-366	||	-398		-206
Of which interest payable [Note 6]	0		0		0	||	17		45
Other deductions from collectable rates [Note 7]	288		278		217	||	-1,557		-335
Of which transitional protection payments made to authorities [Note 3]	192		182		121	||	-1,654		-432
Of which other deductions	96		96		96	||	97		97
Total disregarded amounts	148		199		220	||	304		387
Of which amounts retained in respect of Designated Areas [Note 8]	64		106		110	||	175		243
Of which amounts retained in respect of Renewable Energy schemes	85		93		109	||	129		143
Non-domestic rating income from rates retention scheme (Net Rates Yield less Accounting adjustments, Other deductions & Disregarded amounts)	12,968	||	20,442	||	22,919	||	25,127	||	26,380

Table 1a: Multiplier and rateable values, England, 2020-21 to 2024-25

Years	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023		2023 to 2024	2024 to 2025
Small business rate multiplier(pence)	49.9	49.9	49.9		49.9	49.9
National non-domestic rates multiplier(pence)	51.2	51.2	51.2		51.2	54.6
Number of hereditaments on rating list as at 30 Sept (‘000s)	1,976	1,996	2,006		2,015	2,011
Total aggregate rateable value of all hereditaments on rating list as at 30 Sept (£ million)	64,045	63,910	63,634	||	67,877	67,968

[Note 1] Prior to 2024-25, the small business rates relief was partially funded through the small business rates supplement. This was set at 1.3p. In 2024-25, the small and standard multipliers were decoupled, and the concept of the supplement removed. Therefore the total mandatory relief will appear to be greater, because there is no additional yield from the small business rates supplement.

[Note 2] The transitional scheme for 2017-18 onwards expired in 2022-23. Therefore, for 2022-23, there are only transitional arrangements figures in respect of previous years. In 2022-23, authorities could give the same support to businesses using the supporting small business relief (a discretionary relief), and so what would normally be the cost of the transitional scheme is included in the Discretionary Reliefs figure.

[Note 3] From 2023-24 onwards, the transitional relief scheme changed so that it was fully funded by central government, and so only the cost (revenue foregone by delaying increases to bills) is applicable for current year reporting. In previous years authorities reported a net cost with the cost of revenue foregone by delaying increases to bills offset by additional income by delaying reductions to bills. Therefore revenue received and revenue foregone is reported in relation to previous years.

[Note 4] Losses in collection comprise both losses in collection in-year relating to write-offs and additions reflecting authorities view of their need in future to write off bad debt. See Table 1b for more details of the large increase in 2020-21 and subsequent decrease in 2021-22.

[Note 5] Net addition to the appeals provision comprises both deductions relating to the use of the provision and additions reflecting authorities view of their need in future to make refunds to ratepayers as a result of changes to rating lists. See Table 1b for more details of the large increase in 2020-21.

[Note 6] Authorities have to account for interest on overpayments they have paid or credited to ratepayers following changes to rating lists. The rate of interest is set for any year at one percentage point below the standard rate at 15 March (or the next business day) in the preceding year. In 2020-21 to 2022-23, this was 0%.

[Note 7] Other deductions from collectable rates includes an allowance for cost of collection & legal costs, a special authority deduction for the City of London, and the net cost of transitional protection payments made to authorities to reverse the effects of transitional arrangements.

[Note 8] Designated Areas comprises Enterprise Zones & New Development Deal areas.

[Note 9] In 2020-21 and to a lesser extent in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the coronavirus pandemic caused parts of the figures to be different from the norm. Discretionary reliefs were far higher than usual. This was driven mostly by the introduction of the retail, hospitality and leisure relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2022-23 by the COVID-19 additional relief paid in respect of 2021-22, but the presence of those reliefs may also have affected the levels of other reliefs.

[Note 10] Revaluation applied from 1 April 2023 means that the data in this year is not comparable to previous years.

Table 1b: Further details of accounting adjustments on national non-domestic rates, England, 2020-21 to 2024-25

Year	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023		2023 to 2024 [b1] [Note 10]	2024 to 2025
Losses in collection	822	136	176	||	163	147
Of which losses in collection in excess of the allowance [Note 1]	17	-3	11	||	-29	7
Of which change in allowance for losses in collection [Note 2]	805	139	165	||	191	141
Net addition to appeals provision	870	-348	-366	||	-398	-206
Of which amount charged in-year to appeals provision [Note 3]	-693	-933	-1,086	||	-1,274	-1,115
of which in relation to the 2010 ratings list	-186	-168	-153	||	-69	-5
of which in relation to the 2017 ratings list	-508	-765	-934	||	-1,205	-789
of which in relation to the 2023 ratings list	[z]	[z]	[z]	||	0	-320
of which change in appeals provision [Note 4]	1,564	585	721	||	876	909
of which in relation to the 2010 ratings list	30	-24	-70	||	-31	-7
of which in relation to the 2017 ratings list	1,534	609	791	||	119	-88
of which in relation to the 2023 ratings list	[z]	[z]	[z]	||	788	1,005

[Note 1] Sums written off as bad debt during the year in excess of the amount that authorities had already allowed for through their allowance for non-collection.

[Note 2] The increase in the allowance for non-collection (or bad debt) represents a deduction from authorities income for the year, reflecting their view of the sums currently unpaid by ratepayers that authorities believe they will never collect.

[Note 3] Authorities set aside money each year in provisions to enable them to finance backdated reductions to a ratepayer’s rates liabilities following an alteration to a rating list (usually as a result of appeals). Amounts charged against the provision in a year, following the alteration of a rating list, do not affect the authority’s income in that year and so are deducted from the total adjustment. Charges against the provision for the 2023 revaluation will not be applied until 2024-25.

[Note 4] Amounts added to the provision reduce an authority’s income for the year. The amounts added reflect authorities views of how much they need to set aside in respect of future reductions in the year’s rates liability, plus additions or reductions in respect of amounts already set aside in provisions for past years. In 2020-21 some of this change to the appeals provision was in respect of potential appeals for a ‘material change of circumstances’ in respect of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, the Valuation Office Authority ruled that the pandemic did not constitute a material change of circumstances, so in 2021-22 most of those amounts were subtracted from the provision.

[Note 5] Revaluation applied from 1 April 2023 means that the data in this year is not comparable to previous years.

3.1 Chart 1: Breakdown of Gross Rates Payable

Chart 1 shows how reliefs and other adjustments are deducted from gross rates payable to arrive at the net business rates income for 2024-25.

3.2 Chart 2: Business Rates over Time

Chart 2 shows that gross rates payable and net rates income were steadily increasing until the pandemic. Gross rates payable were stable from 2019-20 to 2022-23 because the business rates multiplier and number of businesses subject to rates remained broadly stable. Revaluation in 2023 contributed to slight increase in gross rates in 2023-24. Net income fell sharply in 2020-21 due to the retail, hospitality and leisure relief introduced in response to the pandemic but has increased in the last four years due to changes in those reliefs.

3.3 Map 1: Net Rates Income in England

Data on the amount of business rates income and reliefs granted for each local authority in England are in the tables accompanying this release. Map 1 provides an overview of how net business rates income in 2024-25 differs across England. Authorities have been split into five ranges of net business rates income with an equal number of authorities in each group.

3.4 Map 2: Net Rates Income in London

Map 2 provides an overview of how net business rates income in 2024-25 differs between local authorities in London. Authorities have been split into the same 5 ranges as in Map 1.

4. National non-domestic rate reliefs granted by local authorities in England 2024-25

Table 2 shows figures for mandatory reliefs and discretionary reliefs granted by billing authorities. Mandatory reliefs are automatic entitlements in any billing authority area whereas discretionary reliefs are granted at a billing authority’s discretion or are temporary. Chart 3 shows how the largest reliefs have changed since 2020-21.

• Of the £8.6 billion relief granted from business rates, £5.9 billion was mandatory relief (including small business rate relief) in 2024-25.

• Local authorities granted a total of £2.7 billion of discretionary relief in 2024-25. Of this £2.6 billion was funded through Section 31 grants.

• Total relief provided to charitable occupations (that is both mandatory and discretionary relief) amounted to £2.4 billion in respect of 2024-25.

• Authorities granted £2.1 billion of relief under the Small Business Rate relief scheme for 2024-25.

• The amount of relief granted to empty premises in 2024-25 was £1.3 billion.

• The amount of retail, hospitality and leisure relief granted in 2024-25 was £2.5 billion.

Table 2: Cost of reliefs from national non-domestic rates, England, 2020-21 to 2024-25 (all figures £ million)

Year	2020 to 2021 [Note 9]		2021 to 2022 [Note 9]		2022 to 2023 [Note 9]		2023 to 2024 [Note 11]		2024 to 2025
Total cost of mandatory relief [note 2]	4,733		5,005		4,891	||	4,539	||	5,860
Of which total mandatory relief in respect of current year [note 2]	4,626		4,811		4,806	||	4,695	||	5,785
Of which small business relief provided in year	2,100		2,161		2,211	||	1,947		2,056
Of which relief on existing properties where a second property is occupied	5		5		5	||	4		4
Of which additional yield generated from the small business supplement [note 2]	-630		-626		-626	||	-674		[z]
Of which charitable occupation	2,026		2,040		2,036	||	2,191		2,387
Of which community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)	22		22		22	||	21		21
Of which rural rate relief [note 3]	4		4		4	||	3		6
Of which telecomms relief	0		2		[z]		[z]		[z]
Of which public lavatories relief	[z]		5		5	||	4		4
Of which partially occupied hereditaments	22		16		13	||	15		19
Of which empty pr	1,082		1,187		1,141	||	1,188		1,275
Of which low carbon heat networks	[z]		[z]		[z]		[z]		3
Of which improvement relief	[z]		[z]		[z]		[z]		13
Of which other mandatory relief in respect of previous years [Note 4]	107		195		85	||	-156		75
Total cost of discretionary relief	11,302	||	5,270	||	2,794	||	2,482	||	2,728
Of which total disrectionary relief unfunded through section 31 grants	99		107		109	||	99		116
Of which total unfunded discretionary relief in respect of current year	98		101		103	||	100		110
Of which charitable occupation	42		45		48	||	48		49
Of which non-profit making bodies	31		33		36	||	37		39
Of which Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)	1		1		1	||	2		1
Of which rural shops etc	0		0		0	||	0		[z]
Of which small rural businesses	1		1		1	||	1		1
Of which other ratepayers under s47	20		20		16	||	12		19
Of which hardship relief	3		1		0	||	1		1
Of which unfunded discretionary relief in respect of previous years	1		6		5	||	-1		6
Of which total discretionary reliefs funded through Section 31 grants	11,203		5,163		2,686	||	2,383		2,613
Of which total cost of discretionary reliefs funded through S31 grants in respect of current year [Note 5]	11,179	||	5,188	||	1,726	||	2,558	||	2,701
Of which flooding relief	1		0		0	||	1		0
Of which rural rate relief	4		4		4	||	3		[z]
Of which local newspaper temporary relief	0		0		0	||	0		0
Of which supporting small businesses relief [Note 6] [Note 7]	13		11		20	||	237		198
Of which discretionary scheme relief	3		[z]		[z]	||	[z]		[z]
Of which retail, hospitality and leisure relief [Note 7]	11,060	||	4,940	||	1,701	||	2,314	||	2,498
Of which nursery relief	98		63		[z]	||	[z]		[z]
Of which COVID-19 additional relief [Note 8]	[z]		171		[z]	||	[z]		[z]
Of which low carbon heat network relief	[z]		[z]		1	||	2		[z]
Of which film studio relief	[z]		[z]		[z]	||	[z]		4
Of which discretionary relief funded through S31 grants in respect of previous years [Note 4]	25		-25		960	||	-175		-88
Of which COVID-19 additional relief [Note 8]	[z]		[z]		1,056	||	-21		-8
Of which all other discretionary reliefs funded through S31 grants	25		-25		-96	||	-154		-80
Total cost of all reliefs	16,035	||	10,275	||	7,685	||	7,021	||	8,588

[Note 1] 0 values are below £0.5 million.

[Note 2] Prior to 2024-25, the small business rates relief was partially funded through the small business supplement. This was set at 1.3p. The amount raised was reported as additional yield generated from the small business supplement. In 2024-25 the small and standard multipliers were decoupled and the concept of the supplement was removed. Therefore the total cost of mandatory relief will appear to be greater, because there is no additional yield to deduct.

[Note 3] From 2024-25, mandatory rural rate relief has increased from 50% to 100% and so discretionary rural rate relief (both funded and unfunded) has not been required.

[Note 4] In 2021-22, the majority of the mandatory relief granted in respect of previous years was empty property relief. In 2022-23, the majority of discretionary relief granted in respect of previous years was COVID-19 additional relief which is reported separately due to the size. In 2023-24, the majority of the mandatory relief granted in respect of previous years was related to charity relief.

[Note 5] Some discretionary reliefs that are funded through Section 31 grants are time limited. Therefore, relief will only be given for a certain number of years.

[Note 6] In 2022-23, authorities could give support to businesses in lieu of transitional relief using the supporting small business relief (a discretionary relief), and so what would normally be the cost of the transitional scheme is included in the Discretionary Reliefs figure.

[Note 7] The discretionary section 31 funded reliefs include the retail, hospitality and leisure relief which changed in scope and amount of relief granted between years. In 2019-20 the retail discount relief, was a discount of one third of the non-domestic rates bill for retail shops, restaurants pubs and cinemas with a rateable value of £51,000 or less. In 2020-21 this was expanded in response to the coronavirus pandemic to provide a 100% relief to all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. In 2021-22 the relief gave a 100% discount for the first three months and then a 66% discount for the remaining months with a cap on the relief for each business of £105,000 per business, or £2 million per business where the business is in occupation of a property that was required, or would have been required, to close, based on the law and guidance applicable on 5 January 2021. In 2022-23 it was a 50% discount with a cap on the relief of £110,000 per business, which increased to a 75% discount with the same cash cap in 2023-24 and 2024-25. This change in coverage and amount of relief means that the retail, hospitality and leisure relief is not comparable across years.

[Note 8] The COVID-19 additional relief fund (CARF) was a discretionary relief scheme for 2021-22 only. The amount granted in 2021-22 is the amount granted up to the end of March 2022. The majority of the relief was granted in 2022-23 in respect of 2021-22 which is reported under the adjustments to reliefs in respect of previous years.

[Note 9] In 2020-21 and to a lesser extent in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the coronavirus pandemic caused parts of the figures to be different from the norm. Discretionary reliefs were far higher than usual. This was driven mostly by the introduction of the retail, hospitality and leisure relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2022-23 by the COVID-19 additional relief paid in respect of 2021-22, but the presence of those reliefs may also have affected the levels of other reliefs.

[Note 10] From 2023-24, supporting small business relief will cap bill increases at £600 per year for businesses losing eligibility for or seeing reductions in Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) as a result of the 2023 business rates revaluation. This means there is a large increase in 2023-24 as the scheme applies to the new revaluation.

[Note 11] Revaluation applied from 1 April 2023 means that the data in this year is not comparable to previous years.

4.1 Chart 3: Business Rates Reliefs over Time

Chart 3 shows that business rates reliefs decreased year-on-year between 2020-21 and 2023-24, but the main driver of the recent changes in total relief is the retail, hospitality and leisure relief. Business rates reliefs have increased in 2024-25, although partly this is because of the decoupling of the multiplier which means that the cost of the small business rate relief is no longer offset by the small business supplement.

5. National non-domestic rate reliefs funded by Section 31 grants

A number of measures have been announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statements and Spring Budgets since 2012 that affect the national non-domestic rates scheme. Central government compensates local authorities for these changes and this compensation is made outside of the rate retention scheme by means of a Section 31 (S31) grant.

Table 3 shows the Section 31 grants paid to local authorities since 2020-21 to compensate them for the loss of income arising from the various national non-domestic rates measures shown below. They differ from the amounts shown in Table 2 which show the total amount of relief granted to business ratepayers under each of the measures. This is because this table reflects just the local authority share of retained business rates, which varies between 50% and 100%.

• Local authorities were due a total of £6.2 billion in Section 31 grant in 2024-25, of which £3.6 billion related to compensation for capping the increase of the Small Business Rates multiplier, £931 million related to compensation for doubling of the Small Business Rates relief and changes of eligibility thresholds, and £1.5 billion related to the retail, hospitality and leisure relief.

Table 3: National non-domestic rates measures funded by Section 31 grants, England, 2020-21 to 2024-25 (all figures £ million) [Note 1,2]

Year	2020 to 2021 [Note 8] [Note 9]		2021 to 2022 [Note 9]		2022 to 2023 [Note 9]		2023 to 2024 [Note 10]		2024 to 2025
Capping the increase in the small business rates multiplier [Note 3]	326	||	668	||	1,466	||	2,692		3,597
Doubling of the Small business rates multiplier and changes of eligibility thresholds	1,014	||	1,030	||	1,102	||	1,032		931
Public lavatories relief	[z]	||	5	||	3	||	3		3
Maintaining small business rates relief on “first” properties	5	||	4	||	4	||	3		3
Relief to newly built properties	0	||	0	||	0	||	0		0
Relief awarded on the occupation of “long-term empty” properties	0	||	0	||	0	||	0		0
Retail relief	4	||	4	||	-1	||	-6		-6
Flooding relief	1	||	0	||	0	||	1		0
In Lieu of Transitional relief	0	||	0	||	1	||	0		0
Rural Rate Relief	2	||	2	||	2	||	2		2
Local Newspaper Temporary Relief	0	||	0	||	0	||	0		0
Supporting Small Businesses Relief [Note 4] [Note 7]	8	||	7	||	13	||	167		120
Discretionary Scheme Relief	-1	||	-1	||	-1	||	-1		2
Pub Relief	0	||	0	||	0	||	0		0
Enterprise Zone Relief provided in 100% Pilot Areas	3	||	3	||	2	||	1		1
Telecomms Relief	0	||	3	||	0	||	0		0
Retail, hospitality and leisure relief [Note 5]	7,116	||	3,212	||	1,091	||	1,563	||	1,497
Nursery relief	62		42		1	||	0		0
COVID-19 additional relief [Note 6]	[z]		101		748	||	-16		-5
Low carbon heat networks relief	[z]		[z]		1	||	2		2
Freeports relief	[z]		[z]		0	||	1		13
Investment Zones relief	[z]		[z]		0	||	1		[z]
Improvement relief	[z]		[z]		[z]		[z]		0
Film studio relief	[z]		[z]		[z]		[z]		9
Additional growth in non-designated Freeports	[z]		[z]		[z]		[z]		2
Total amount of reliefs funded by Section 31 grants	8,541	||	5,079	||	4,432	||	5,446		6,171

[Note 1] Zero values are less than 0.5 million.

[Note 2] Amounts of Section 31 grant include amounts due in respect of reliefs granted in-year in respect of previous years. Once a relief has expired, amounts in this table relate only to relief granted in respect of previous years.

[Note 3] The relief in respect of capping the small business rates multiplier is particularly high in 2022-23 and 2023-24 as inflation increased more during 2022 than it did in the prior years. The cap was at the same level of 49.9p in 2022-23 and 2023-24 as in previous years. This means the difference between the multiplier and what it would have been without the cap increased more than usual in those years.

[Note 4] In 2022-23, authorities could give support to businesses in lieu of transitional relief using the supporting small business relief (a discretionary relief), and so what would normally be the cost of the transitional scheme is compensated for as a section 31 payment in respect of the supporting small business relief.

[Note 5] The discretionary section 31 funded reliefs include the retail, hospitality and leisure relief which changed in scope and amount of relief granted between years. In 2019-20 the retail discount relief, was a discount of one third of the non-domestic rates bill for retail shops, restaurants pubs and cinemas with a rateable value of £51,000 or less. In 2020-21 this was expanded in response to the coronavirus pandemic to provide a 100% relief to all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. In 2021-22 the relief gave a 100% discount for the first three months and then a 66% discount for the remaining months with a cap on the relief for each business of £105,000 per business, or £2 million per business where the business is in occupation of a property that was required, or would have been required, to close, based on the law and guidance applicable on 5 January 2021. In 2022-23 it was a 50% discount with a cap on the relief of £110,000 per business, which increased to a 75% discount with the same cash cap in 2023-24 and 2024-25. This change in coverage and amount of relief means that the retail, hospitality and leisure relief is not comparable across years.

[Note 6] The COVID-19 additional relief fund (CARF) was a discretionary relief scheme for 2021-22 only. The amount granted in 2021-22 is the amount granted up to the end of March 2022. The majority of the relief was granted in 2022-23 in respect of 2021-22, which is compensated for by Section 31 grant in 2022-23.

[Note 7] From 2023-24, supporting small business relief will cap bill increases at £600 per year for businesses losing eligibility for or seeing reductions in Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) as a result of the 2023 business rates revaluation. This means there is a large increase in 2023-24 as the scheme applies to the new revaluation.

[Note 8] Since 2017-18 some authorities have been able to retain more than a 50% share of income. The amount of share and authorities involved change from year to year from 2019-20 to 2020-21, and so annual figures in those are not directly comparable.

[Note 9] In 2020-21 and to a lesser extent in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the coronavirus pandemic caused parts of the figures to be different from the norm. Discretionary reliefs were far higher than usual. This was driven mostly by the introduction of the retail, hospitality and leisure relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2022-23 by the COVID-19 additional relief paid in respect of 2021-22, but the presence of those reliefs may also have affected the levels of other reliefs and hence the Section 31 grants due.

[Note 10] Revaluation applied from 1 April 2023 means that the data in this year is not comparable to previous years.

6. Accompanying tables and open data

6.1 Symbols used

[r] = revised since the original publication of this data
[z] = not relevant
0 = zero or negligible (below £0.5 million)
|| = a discontinuity in data between years (see Excel tables for more details)

6.2 Rounding

Where figures have been rounded, there may be a slight discrepancy between the total and the sum of constituent parts.

6.3 Tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release. These include Tables 1 to 3 for England and a copy of the NNDR3 form with the national-level and local authority-level figures for each cell.

6.4 Open data

These statistics are available in fully open and linkable data formats online.

6.5 Technical notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at MHCLG is available via the Department’s website.