Reliefs and exemptions

What Business Rates Reliefs are available?

Transitional Rate Relief

Transitional Relief phases in the effects on an increase over a period of time and can only increase by a set amount each year. Transitional Relief stops when the bill reaches the full amount set by the revaluation.

If your bill is increasing from 1 April 2026

Changes to Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced its intention to introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers (tax rates) for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties (RHL hereditaments) with rateable values under £500,000 from 2026/27.

These multipliers replace the temporary Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) business rates relief that was set at a 40% reduction for 2025/26. The new 2026/27 RHL multipliers, which will be set 5p below the national multipliers are as follows:

Standard RHL: 43.0p (for eligible properties with rateable values below £500,000)

Small Business RHL: 38.2p (for eligible properties with rateable values below £51,000)

To apply for this relief please complete our online application form on our Citizen Access Revenues Portal.

2026 Supporting Small Business Scheme (SSB relief)

This relief caps the increase in rates for businesses that lose some or all of their Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR), Rural Rate Relief, or Retail Relief (RHL) as a result of their RV changing in the revaluation. This caps the increase in your bill at either £800 per year or the relevant Transitional Relief percentage as shown above, whichever is higher.

The Government has also announced a one-year extension of the 2023 Supporting Small Business Scheme to 1 April 2027. Ratepayers who qualify for this extension will not qualify for the three-year 2026 SSB scheme. This support is applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements. More information on SSB can be found on the GOV.UK website.

100% relief for eligible electric vehicle charging points and Electric Vehicle Only Forecourts (EVCP relief)

A ten-year 100% business rates relief for EVCPs, which are separately assessed by the VOA and Electric Vehicle Only Forecourts to make sure that they face no business rates liability.

Small Business Rates Relief

Since 2014, businesses that take on additional properties, which would normally mean the loss of their Small Business Rate, keep their existing Small Business Rate Relief for a 12-months ‘grace period’ after taking on the additional property. This grace period has been extended to 3 years for ratepayers who take on additional properties on or after 27 November 2025 only.

For 2026/27 only, any ratepayer not receiving Transitional Relief or Supporting Small Business Relief will have their rates multiplier increased by a Transitional Relief Supplement of 1p.

For more information and to apply, please see our dedicated webpage.

Small Business Rates Relief

Charitable Rate Relief

For more information and to apply, please see our dedicated webpage.

Charitable Rate Relief 

Rural Rate Relief

For more information and to apply, please see our dedicated webpage.

Rural Rate Relief

My property is empty. Am I entitled to any relief?

Business Rates are generally payable in respect of unoccupied non-domestic property. However, they are generally not payable for the first three months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial premises, whilst certain other properties such as vacant listed buildings are not liable for Business Rates until they are reoccupied.

The government announced at the Spring Budget on 6th March 2024 that there would be changes to empty reliefs. From 1 April 2024 a premises must be occupied for a minimum of 13 weeks before any further periods of empty relief can be awarded.

Please contact us for full details on exemptions.