General explanatory notes for business rates

Non-Domestic Rates, or business rates, collected by local authorities are the way that those who occupy non-domestic property contribute towards the cost of local services.

Under the business rates retention arrangements, introduced from 1 April 2013, authorities keep a proportion of the business rates paid locally. The money, together with revenue from council taxpayers, locally generated income and grants from central government, is used to pay for the services provided by local authorities in your area.

You can find further information about the business rates system from www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates.

Payment of business rate bills is automatically set on a 10-monthly cycle.

However, the government has put in place regulations that allow ratepayers to pay over 12 monthly instalments.

If you wish to take up this offer, you should contact us as soon as possible.

We work out the business rates bill for a property by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate non-domestic multiplier.

There are two multipliers: the national non-domestic rating multiplier and the small business non-domestic rating multiplier. The government sets the multipliers for each financial year.

Ratepayers who occupy a property with a rateable value which does not exceed £50,999 (and who are neither entitled to certain other mandatory relief[s] nor liable for unoccupied property rates) will have their bills calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier, rather than the standard non- domestic rating multiplier.

Both multipliers for a financial year are based on the previous year's multiplier adjusted to reflect the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figure for the September prior to the billing year, unless a lower multiplier is set by the government. The current multipliers are shown on the front of your bill.

Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an agency of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs. They compile and maintain a full list of all rateable values, available at www.gov.uk/voa.

The rateable value of your property is shown on the front of your bill. This broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date specified in legislation. For the current rating list, this date was set as 1 April 2021.

The Valuation Office Agency may alter the valuation if circumstances change. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can also check and challenge the valuation shown in the list if they believe it is wrong.

You can find further information about the grounds to challenge this and the process for doing so via www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-check-your-rateable-value-is-correct

All non-domestic property rateable values are reassessed at revaluations. The most recent revaluation took effect from 1 April 2023.

Revaluations ensure that business rates bills are up-to-date and accurately reflect current rental values and relative changes in rents.

Frequent revaluations ensure the system continues to be responsive to changing economic conditions.

Depending on individual circumstances, a ratepayer may be eligible for a reduction in your business rates bill, known as rate relief. There are a range of available reliefs.

You can find further details via www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates or from our Apply for Business Rates relief page.

Some of the permanent reliefs are set out on this page, but other temporary reliefs may be introduced by the government at a fiscal event.

You can find further detail on current temporary reliefs via www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief.

You can also find details on the latest availability of business rates reliefs and advice on whether you may qualify from our Apply for Business Rates relief page.

If your sole or main property has a rateable value that does not exceed a set threshold, you may receive a percentage reduction in your rates bill for this property of up to a maximum of 100%.

The level of reduction will depend on the rateable value of the property. For example, eligible properties with a rateable value below a specified lower threshold will receive 100% relief, while eligible properties above the lower threshold and below a specified upper threshold may receive partial relief.

The relevant thresholds for relief are set by the government. You can find details from our Apply for Business Rates relief page or at www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates.

Generally, this percentage reduction (relief) is only available to ratepayers who occupy either:

one property, or
one main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have a rateable value which does not exceed the limit set by order.

The aggregate rateable value of all the properties must also not exceed a certain amount.

If your business takes on an additional property, and that would normal meant the loss of small business rate relief, you will be allowed to keep that relief for a fixed additional period.

You can find full details on the relevant limits in relation to second properties and the current period for which a ratepayer may continue to receive relief after taking on an additional property via www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates.

You will need to notify us of certain changes in circumstances if you get this relief.

The changes you should tell us about are:

the property becoming vacant,
the ratepayer taking up occupation of an additional property, or
an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer in an area other than the area of the local authority which granted the relief

Charities and registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs are entitled to 80% relief where the property is occupied by the charity or the club and is wholly or mainly used for the charitable purposes of the charity (or of that and other charities), or for the purposes of the club (or of that and other clubs).

We have discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill. You can find full details by looking at our policy about discretionary rate relief from our Apply for Business Rates relief page.

At a revaluation, you may see reductions or no change in you bill, whereas some bills will increase. Transitional relief schemes are introduced at each revaluation to help those facing increases. Transitional relief is applied automatically to bills.

You can find further information about transitional arrangements and other reliefs via www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates.

We have a general power to grant discretionary local discounts and to give hardship relief in specific circumstances.

You can find full details from our Apply for Business Rates relief page.

Business rates are generally payable for unoccupied non-domestic properties. 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.

You can find full details on exemptions via www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief.

The UK subsidy control regime started in January 2023. The enables us to deliver subsidies that are tailored to local needs.

Our subsidies must comply with the UK’s international subsidy control commitments. This legislation provides the framework for a new, UK-wide subsidy control regime.

You can find further information about subsidy control.

You do not have to be represented in discussions about your rateable value or their rates bill.

However, if you do want representation, you can choose a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation. They are qualified and regulated by rules of professional conduct designed to protect the public from misconduct.

Before you employ a rating adviser or company, you should check that they have the necessary knowledge and expertise, as well as appropriate indemnity insurance.

Take great care and, if necessary, seek further advice before entering into any contract.

You can find information relating to the relevant and previous financial years, in regard to the gross expenditure of the local authority, via Bands and amounts.

You can request a hard copy by writing to us or by calling 01245 606805.