Small business rate relief
Small business rate relief is a national discount scheme administered by the council on behalf of the government. It is awarded on a sliding scale depending on the size of your Rateable Value.
Does your business qualify for relief?
You can get small business rate relief if:
- you only use one property
- your property's rateable value is less than £15,000
If your property has a rateable value below £18,000 (£25,500 in Greater London) you’re considered a small business. Even if you don’t qualify for small business rate relief, your business rates will be calculated using the small business multiplier instead of the standard one. This is the case even if you have multiple properties.
What do you get
From 1 April 2017 you will get 100 percent relief (doubled from the usual rate of 50 percent) for properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less. This means you won’t pay business rates on properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less.
The rate of relief will gradually decrease from 100 to 0 percent for properties with a rateable value between £12,001 and £14,999.
The small business multiplier for 2023/24 is 49.9p (0.499).
The standard multiplier for 2023/24 is 51.2p (0.512).
More than one property?
If you have more than one property you can get small business rate relief if the rateable value of each of your other properties is less than £2,600.
The rateable values of the properties are added together and the relief applied to the main property. You will keep getting any existing relief for one year when you get a second property.
Apply for small business rate relief
You must complete all parts of the small business rate relief application form (PDF - 79.36 KB) and return it as soon as possible.
Statutory warning
Under the Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) Order 2004, you should be aware that it is a criminal offence to give false or misleading information when making an application for small business rate relief.