Last Modified March 20, 2013
There are a number of different reductions available.
Small Business Rate Relief
Our Small Business Rate Relief Scheme normally provides a maximum of 50% mandatory rate relief for properties with a rateable value up to £6,000, with relief declining on a sliding scale until, at a rateable value of £12,000, there is no entitlement.
Relief will only be available to businesses occupying one property in England, with a rateable value less than £12,000, or businesses with one main property and other additional properties in England, providing the additional properties have individual rateable values below £2,600 and the combined rateable value of all the properties is below £18,000. In such cases, relief will only be applied on your main property (i.e. the property with the highest rateable value).
The Government temporarily doubled the rate of Small Business Rate Relief in 2012/13 and has now extended this arrangement to 31 March 2014. This means:
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If you are occupying only one property with a rateable value of below £6,000 you would pay no rates at all.
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If you are occupying only one property with a rateable value of below £12,000 you would benefit from a discount on your bill.
The Government has also made it easier for eligible ratepayers with rateable values below £18,000 to have their bills calculated using the small business multiplier. If you are not claiming and think you may be eligible, contact us on 0208 207 7409.
Download an application form now.
Transitional Relief
After each revaluation there is a period of transition. No bill is allowed to increase or decrease by more than a set percentage. Any property with a large increase or decrease in its rateable value will therefore come under the transitional relief scheme, which has the effect of phasing in the valuation over a period of time. If transitional relief applies to your rates bill, it will be applied automatically.
Empty properties
For the majority of commercial properties there is a maximum of three months exemption from the payment of rates from the date the property becomes empty. If, after that period, the property remains empty, full rates will become payable.
Industrial properties that under previous law received full exemption from the payment of rates whilst empty (factories, warehouses and workshops) now only benefit from a maximum of up to six months exemption. If after that period the property remains empty, full rates become payable.
There are full and unlimited exemptions applicable to unoccupied charitable properties and listed buildings, and full exemptions for unoccupied small properties with rateable values of less than £2,600.
Charity Relief
Charities are entitled to an 80% reduction in their bills. We have the discretion to reduce the bill further and to grant relief to some other types of non-profit making bodies. Download an application form and guide now.
Hardship relief
This discretionary relief can be granted if you are experiencing hardship and your business is considered to be important to the local community. Contact us on 020 8207 7409 for an application form.