In some circumstances, Business Rates can be significantly reduced:
Small Business Rate Relief
You can get small business relief if:
- you only occupy one business property in England with a rateable value below £15,000
- the relief does not apply to empty properties
- from 1 April 2017 you will get 100% relief for a property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less, meaning you will not pay any business rates for it
- for properties with a rateable value of between £12,001 and £14,999, the rate of relief is awarded on a sliding scale decreasing from 100% to 0%. For example:
| Rateable Value | Percentage Reduction |
|---|---|
| Up to £12,000 | 100% |
| £12,750 | 75% |
| £13,500 | 50% |
| £14,250 | 25% |
| £15,000 and over | 0% |
- you occupy more than one property, and the rateable values of your additional properties are below £2,900 and the aggregate rateable value of all the properties (including the main one) is less than £20,000. If this is the case, you would only qualify for relief on the main property
- if you are currently receiving relief and occupy an additional property with a rateable value above £2,900, the existing relief would continue for one year
If your property has an rateable value below £51,000, 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. The higher multiplier will apply if you are liable to pay rates on an empty property or if you are in receipt of a mandatory relief.
Prior to 1 April 2017:
- you only occupy one business property in England with a rateable value below £12,000
Or
- you occupy more than one property and the rateable values of your additional properties are below £2,600, plus the aggregate value of all your properties is below £18,000. If this is the case, you would only qualify for relief on one property
- if you are currently receiving relief and occupy an additional property with a rateable value above £2,600, the existing relief would continue for one year
Small Business Rate Relief is calculated as follows:
- rateable value below £6,000 – Maximum 100% relief
- £6,001 to £11,999 – Relief gradually reduced on a sliding scale, for example £7,500 is 75%, £9,000 is 50% and £10,500 is 25%
- £12,000 to £18,000 – No reduction but a lower multiplier is used to calculate the bill
Apply for Small Business Rate Relief
Contact the Business Rates Office
Supporting Small Business Relief scheme (SSBR)
At Autumn Statement 2022 the Chancellor announced that a new Supporting Small Business (SSB) relief scheme which will cap bill increases at £600 per year for those ratepayers who as a result of the change in their rateable value at the revaluation, are losing some or all of their Small Business Rate Relief.
The relief is applied after any entitlement to Small Business Rate Relief.
The Government has published guidance setting out the eligibility criteria for the scheme. This guidance can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-relief-2023-supporting-small-business-relief-local-authority-guidance.
Business Rates on empty properties
Read about Business Rates on empty properties in Wirral
Retail Hospitality & Leisure Relief
The 2025/26 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme will provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 40% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business. (previously 75% relief in 2024/25)
You could qualify if your business is mainly being used as a:
- shop
- restaurant, café/bar, or pub
- cinema or music venue
- hospitality or leisure business, for example, a gym, a spa, a hotel
Businesses may choose to opt out of support by providing billing authorities notification of their request to refuse support per eligible hereditament, the relevant forms and further information can be found on GOV.UK via the link below. Once a refusal of the relief as been requested, you cannot then withdraw that refusal.
Find out more about this scheme on GOV.UK.
Charitable Relief
Charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASC)
Charities, registered community amateur sports clubs and other qualifying organisation can apply for charitable relief, which can reduce the bill by 80 -100% relief .
The property must be occupied by the charity or the club and 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).
To apply for these reliefs you generally need to be registered either as a charity on the Charity Commission website or as a CASC on the HMRC website. Links to both sites can be found at the top of the page.
Other non-profit making bodies
Discretionary relief can be granted for up to 100 per cent of the rates charged to certain non-profit making bodies. To be eligible, the organisation must be a non-profit making body and the property used for charitable, philanthropic or religious purposes, or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts, or used wholly or mainly for recreation by a not-for-profit club or society (meaning, objectives which are broadly charitable).
Charities and community amateur sports clubs can also apply for this relief as a top up to the 80 per cent reduction.
Improvement Relief
At the Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023. The Chancellor announced the introduction of Improvement Relief with effect from 1 April 2024
This relief has been devised to support businesses seeking to invest in their properties. It ensures that, upon making qualifying improvements to properties that you occupy, you will not face a higher business rates bill for 12 months.
Eligibility
The Legislation stipulates that relief may be accessible for periods preceding 1 April 2029. The Government’s intention is for this relief to be applicable to projects concluded by 31 March 2028, with qualifying projects completed by that date receiving a 12-month relief benefit.
Any qualifying works must be completed before the 1 April 2028. A definition of qualifying works has been provided as any which:
a. Increase the area of any building in or on the hereditament.
b. Otherwise improve the physical state of the hereditament.
c. Add rateable plant and machinery to the hereditament.
As such, newly constructed or refurbished hereditaments that were removed from the rating list during the period works will not qualify. A change of use or addition of land alone will also not meet the requirements for the relief.
This relief will be awarded upon certain conditions being met:
Firstly, that the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are satisfied that the works meet the above criteria, and a certificate has been issued in relation to the hereditament (the same not having been withdrawn or ceased to have effect).
Secondly, that Wirral Council are satisfied that, in the period since the qualifying works commenced, the property has remained occupied, and the ratepayer of that hereditament (or a relevant predecessor hereditament) has not changed. By ensuring that the same ratepayer has remained in occupation, this enables the support to be directed to occupiers rather than landlords, developers or businesses inheriting improvements from previous occupiers.
There is no requirement to make an application for Improvement Relief and relief will be automatically awarded once Wirral Council are satisfied that the above conditions have been met.
Hardship
Generally, the full rate applies but where a property is partly occupied for a short time, we have discretion in certain cases (for example, a phased move from one property to another) to award relief in respect of the unoccupied part by apportioning (effectively splitting) the rateable value between the occupied and unoccupied parts of the property. To qualify for this reduction, both the occupied and unoccupied parts must be in the possession of the same person or company. You can view the policy at the bottom of this section.
To apply for this relief, please complete and return 'Section 44a relief - application form (partly occupied properties)' (link at the bottom of this page). On receipt of your completed application, we may visit and inspect your property. If you qualify for the relief, we will request a certificate from the Valuation Office Agency to confirm the temporary split.
After the initial 3-month exemption period (or 6 for a qualifying industrial property), the apportionment will cease, and the full occupied rate will apply to the whole property.
Partly occupied properties
A ratepayer is liable for the full charge, whether a property is wholly occupied or only partly occupied. However, a discretionary award can be made for relief on the unoccupied part.
Transitional Rate Relief 2025/26
Transitional relief will phase in the effect of significant changes in liability, which arise from the revaluation of non-domestic properties.
There are limits on the percentage by which bills may increase each year. Special rules deal with changes in rateable values and the merger or splitting of existing properties. Any new properties entered into the rating list after 1 April 2023 will not be subject to transitional relief for this valuation period.
The limits on increases for the 3-year valuation period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026 are detailed below. These increases are in addition to any adjustment for inflation (except for year 1, 2023/2024).
Property size
Small
- 2023-2024 - 5%
- 2024-2025* - 10%
- 2025-2026* - 25%
Medium
- 2023-2024 - 15%
- 2024-2025* - 25%
- 2025-2026* - 40%
Large
- 2023-2024 - 30%
- 2024-2025* - 40%
- 2025-2026* - 55%
* Year 2 and 3 caps are before inflation. Note: these are year on year caps on increases.
Property size is determined by rateable value. Small is up to £20,000, medium is above £20,000 and large is above £100,000.
If you are entitled to transitional relief this will automatically be awarded and be shown on your bill.
The next revaluation will come into effect on 1 April 2026.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/transitional-relief