Small business rate relief

 

Any ratepayer who occupies a single non-domestic property within England, where the rateable value is less than 18,000 (£51,000 from 1 April 2017) will be entitled to the following relief:

 

Small Business Rate Relief entitlement
Rateable Value of main property Period Amount of Small Business Rate Relief
£6,000 or less 01.04.2010 to 30.09.2010 50%
  01.10.2010 to 31.03.2017 100%
£6,001 to £12,000 01.04.2010 to 30.09.2010 50% to 0% on a scale of 1% for every £120.00 RV over £6,000
  01.10.2010 to 31.03.2017 100% to 0% on a scale of 1% for every £60.00 RV over £6,000
£12,000 or less 01.04.2017 100 %
£12,001 to £15,000 01.04.2017 100% to 0% on a scale of 1% for every £30.00 RV over £12,000
£12,001 to £17.999 01.04.2012 to 01.04.2017 Small Business Rate Multiplier only
£15,000 to £50,999 01.04.2017 Small Business Rate Multiplier only

 

Further changes to Small Business Rate Relief were announced in the March 2016 budget. The changes will not take effect until 01 April 2017. Occupiers of a single business premises with a rateable value of £12,000 or less will receive 100% relief, with relief on a sliding scale from 100% to 0% for rateable values between £12,001 and £15,000.

Please note: If you make a claim under the Small Business Rate Relief Scheme after 1 October 2017, the furthest your claim could be backdated is to 1 April 2012.

The following should be noted:

  • You can only claim SBRR on one property
  • You can’t claim for unoccupied properties
  • You can’t claim SBRR where you are already in receipt of a mandatory rate relief

Since the introduction of Small Business Rate Relief in April 2005 there have been two multipliers for each year, the standard national Non-Domestic Multiplier and the Small Business Multiplier.

 

The multipliers from 2010 onwards are shown below
Year Non-Domestic Multiplier Small Business Multiplier
2010/11 41.4 pence 40.7 pence
2011/12 43.3 pence 42.6 pence
2012/13 45.8 pence 45.0 pence
2013/14 47.1 pence 46.2 pence
2014/15 48.2 pence 47.1 pence
2015/16 49.3 pence 48.0 pence
2016/17 49.7 pence 48.4 pence
2017/18 47.9 pence 46.6 pence
2018/19 49.3 pence 48.0 pence
2019/20 50.4 pence 49.1 pence

 

What if your property is empty?

Small Business Rate Relief does not apply to empty properties.

What if you are already claiming other rate reliefs?

If you are in receipt of another mandatory rate relief, for example Charitable or Rural Rate Relief, you will not be entitled to Small Business Rate Relief.

What if you have additional properties?

If your business occupies any additional properties, each of the additional properties must have a rateable value of less than £2,900, and the total rateable value of all of the business properties must be less than £20,000.

Small business rate relief online form

Application for small business rate relief
  • Before you Start
  • About the Business
  • Other Business Premises
  • Other Properties
  • Declaration
0% Complete
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Small business rate relief conditions

This application must be completed by the ratepayer or a person authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer. The means, where the ratepayer is:
a partnership, partner of that partnership
a trust, a trustee of that trust
a body corporate, a director of that body, and
in any other case, a person duly authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer.
NB: in the case of a Limited Company the application must be signed by a director.

Please refer to the table on our website for the levels of Small Business Rate Relief entitlement.

Check your Rateable Value

The relief will be applied to the highest rateable value property.

Further details of the scheme can be found on Small Business Rate Relief page
Ratepayers will only be required to apply for Small Business Rate Relief once between each revaluation of non-domestic assessments.

An additional condition of entitlement is that the ratepayer must notify the Local Authority of particular changes in circumstances that may affect their entitlement to the relief, within 4 weeks from the date that the change occurred.

These changes are:
increases in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer which is not in the area of the Local Authority granting Small Business Relief;
the ratepayer coming into occupation of any property which has not been mentioned in their application for relief.
If your business ceases to be eligible on a day during the year in question, the relief will cease on that day.

You must submit your application for the relief to the Council within six months of the end of the valuation period to which it relates.

Apply by post

Please print and send to the address below.

Small business relief - printable PDF