Business rates budget 2025

Following the recent government budget announcement, we now have the details of the proposed changes to business rates for 2026 to 2027.

We are currently preparing and implementing these changes as part of our annual billing process for the next financial year. In the meantime, here is some information regarding the changes to Business Rates.

Revaluation from April 2026

Draft Rateable Values are now available via the Valuation Office Agency's Business Rates Valuation Service. You can compare your property's valuation and estimate your future bill on the GOV.UK website.

New multipliers

There are now five Rate Multipliers, as below:

Qualifying Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Properties
Empty or Non-Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Properties
All Properties
Qualifying Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Properties:
Rateable Value Below £51,000
Empty or Non-Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Properties:
38.2 pence
All Properties:
43.2 pence
:
Not applicable
Qualifying Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Properties:
Rateable Value £51,000 to £499,999
Empty or Non-Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Properties:
43.0 pence
All Properties:
48.0 pence
:
Not applicable
Qualifying Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Properties:
Rateable Value of £500,000 or above
Empty or Non-Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Properties:
Not applicable
All Properties:
Not applicable
:
50.8 pence

What to do if you believe you should be paying on a Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Multiplier

If you believe you are paying on the wrong rate multiplier you should contact us and explain why. You may be asked to provide additional supporting information or complete an online form.

Annual charge

Prior to any reliefs and exemptions this is how your charge is calculated:

Rateable value x relevant Rate multiplier + 1pence Transitional supplement = Annual Charge

There are caps on the percentage increase, detailed below.

Transitional relief

Transitional Relief will be applied automatically by us. It limits the year-on-year increase on your bill to the percentages shown below.

Rateable value
2026 to 2027
2027 to 2028
2028 to 2029
Rateable value:
£1 to £20,000
2026 to 2027:
1%
2027 to 2028:
10% plus inflation
2028 to 2029:
25% plus inflation
Rateable value:
£20,001 to £100,000
2026 to 2027:
15%
2027 to 2028:
25% plus inflation
2028 to 2029:
40% plus inflation
Rateable value:
£100,001 or more
2026 to 2027:
30%
2027 to 2028:
25% plus inflation
2028 to 2029:
25% plus inflation

Further information on Transitional Relief is available on the GOV.UK website.

Small Business Rate Relief Extension

If you acquire a second property, previously you kept the existing relief on your main property for 12 months, if none of your other properties had a rateable value above £2,899 and the total rateable value of all your properties was less than £20,000. This has now been extended to three years.