Small business rates relief
Ratepayers who occupy a property with a rateable value which does not exceed £50,999 (and who are not entitled to other mandatory relief or are liable for unoccupied property rates) will have their bills calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier, rather than the national non-domestic rating multiplier.
In addition, generally, if the sole or main property is shown on the rating list with a rateable value which does not exceed £15,000, the ratepayer will receive a percentage reduction in their rates bill for this property of up to a maximum of 100%. For a property with a rateable value of not more than £12,000, the ratepayer will receive a 100% reduction in their rates bill.
Generally, this percentage reduction (relief) is only available to ratepayers who occupy either:
- one property
- one main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have a rateable value which does not exceed £2,899
The rateable value of the property mentioned in the first bullet point, or the aggregate rateable value of all the properties mentioned in the second bullet point, must not exceed £19,999.
The Government has introduced additional support to small businesses. For those businesses that take on an additional property which would normally have meant the loss of small business rate relief, the Government has confirmed that they will be allowed to keep that relief for a period of 12 months.
Businesses that qualify for small business rate relief when they occupy more than one property can only be granted relief on the main property.
Apply for small business rate relief
If you think that your business is eligible, please complete the online form.
In most cases we hope to deal with your application in about a week, sometimes we may need to write to you for more information, and if you are successful a new bill will be sent to you showing you your new balance.
If you have applied for small business rate relief you must continue to pay the instalments on your last bill until you receive a new one. If you don't do this it may mean you get a reminder or even a summons.