Business rates relief
Small business rate relief
You can get small business rate relief if:
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your property鈥檚 rateable value is less than 拢15,000
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your business only uses one property - you may still be able to get relief if you use more
You cannot get small business rate relief and charitable rate relief at the same time. Your local council will decide which type of relief you鈥檙e eligible for.
What you鈥檒l get
How much small business rate relief you get depends on your property鈥檚 rateable value.
You will not pay business rates on a property with a rateable value of 拢12,000 or less, if that鈥檚 the only property your business uses.
For properties with a rateable value of 拢12,001 to 拢15,000, the rate of relief will go down gradually from 100% to 0%.
Example
If your rateable value is 拢13,500, you鈥檒l get 50% off your bill. If your rateable value is 拢14,000, you鈥檒l get 33% off.
If you use more than one property
When you get a second property, you鈥檒l 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:
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none of your other properties have a rateable value above 拢2,899
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the total rateable value of all your properties is less than 拢20,000 (拢28,000 in London)
How to get small business rate relief
Contact your local council to:
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check if you鈥檙e eligible
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find out how to get small business rate relief
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check if you can get any other types of business rates relief on top of small business rate relief
If your circumstances change
Report changes to make sure you鈥檙e 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
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you make any changes to your property that would increase its value - for example, extending or renovating it
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the nature of your business changes or it moves to different premises
The amount of small business rate relief you鈥檙e eligible for may change. For example, it may decrease if the rateable value of your property has increased.
You鈥檒l usually need to pay your new rate starting from the day your circumstances changed.
If you think you should be getting small business rate relief but are not
Contact your local council if you鈥檙e not getting small business rate relief and you think you鈥檙e eligible for it.
If you think your rateable value is wrong
You can challenge your property鈥檚 rateable value with the VOA. Use your business rates valuation account to do this.
If you鈥檙e getting less small business rate relief since 1 April 2023
You may be eligible for the supporting small business relief scheme if you鈥檝e lost some or all of your small business rate relief because of the revaluation on 1 April 2023.
Find out more about the supporting small business relief scheme.
If you鈥檙e a small business but do not qualify for small business rate relief
Your business rates bill is calculated using a 鈥榤ultiplier鈥� - your rateable value is multiplied by this number to get your final bill.
If your property has a rateable value below 拢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 55.5p from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. .
Find out how to estimate your business rates bill.
You may be eligible for another type of business rate relief. For example, if:
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you have a retail, hospitality or leisure property
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you are in financial difficulty