Business rates: key facts
- Your bill is worked out as rateable value x multiplier, then any reliefs are taken off.
- The rateable value is the Valuation Office Agency's estimate of the yearly open-market rent on a set date, not the rent you actually pay.
- The latest revaluation took effect in England and Wales on 1 April 2026, based on rents at 1 April 2024.
- In England for 2026/27 the multiplier ranges from 38.2p (smaller retail, hospitality and leisure properties) to 50.8p (rateable value £500,000 or more).
- In England, properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less pay no business rates if it's the business's only property (small business rate relief).
- If you think your rateable value is wrong you use Check, Challenge, Appeal: a free process you can do yourself or ask a surveyor to handle.
- Wales uses the same valuations but has its own multipliers and reliefs. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate systems.
- Business Rates Hub is an independent guide, not the council, the VOA or a government service.
What are business rates?
Business rates are a local tax charged on most non-domestic property in England and Wales. Your council sends the bill and collects the money; the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) sets the rateable value it is based on.
If you use a building or land for business, you will usually get a business rates bill for it. That covers obvious places such as shops, pubs, restaurants, offices, factories and warehouses, but also car parks, advertising hoardings, some self-catering holiday lets and the business parts of mixed-use buildings.
Two different organisations are involved, and it helps to know which does what:
- The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), part of HMRC, decides the rateable value of each property. If you think the rateable value or the property details are wrong, you deal with the VOA.
- Your local council works out the bill, applies reliefs and collects the money. If you think you should be getting a relief, or the bill maths is wrong, you deal with the council.
Some property is exempt, for example agricultural land and buildings and places of public religious worship. Most business property isn't, so the questions that matter are whether the rateable value is right and whether the right reliefs have been applied.
How is a business rates bill worked out?
The council multiplies your rateable value by the multiplier for your type and size of property, then takes off any reliefs you qualify for. In England for 2026/27 there are five multipliers, from 38.2p to 50.8p in the pound.
From 1 April 2026, England has a new set of multipliers. Which one applies depends on your rateable value and whether your property counts as retail, hospitality or leisure (RHL), such as a shop, cafe, pub, gym or hotel.
| England, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | Rateable value under £51,000 | £51,000 to £499,999 | £500,000 or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail, hospitality and leisure property | 38.2p | 43p | 50.8p |
| Any other property (offices, warehouses, surgeries and so on) | 43.2p | 48p |
Example: a cafe with a rateable value of £30,000 that qualifies as retail, hospitality or leisure would have a bill before reliefs of £30,000 x 0.382 = £11,460 for the year. An office with the same rateable value would be £30,000 x 0.432 = £12,960.
Reliefs then come off. The most common are small business rate relief, transitional relief (which phases in big increases after a revaluation) and supporting small business relief (for businesses that lost relief at the 2026 revaluation). Your council applies most of these; some you need to ask for.
What is a rateable value?
A rateable value is the VOA's estimate of what your property would rent for each year on the open market on a set date. For the current list that date is 1 April 2024. It is not the rent you pay, and it is not your bill.
The VOA works out a rateable value on a set of fixed assumptions: that the property is empty and available to let, in reasonable repair, and that the tenant pays the rates, repairs and insurance. Your actual lease terms don't change those assumptions, which is why your rateable value can be quite different from your rent.
How the VOA gets to the figure depends on the type of property:
- Rental comparison for property that is often rented, such as shops, offices, cafes, factories and warehouses. The VOA looks at rents paid nearby and turns them into a price per square metre.
- Trade-based (receipts and expenditure) methods for property where the trade is what makes it valuable, such as pubs and hotels, which are valued on the trade a reasonably efficient operator could achieve.
- The contractor's basis for property that is hardly ever rented, such as schools and hospitals, based on what it would cost to build.
Because each method uses different information, the things that can go wrong are different too. A shop's value can be thrown out by a wrongly measured zone; a pub's by trade figures that don't reflect what a typical operator could do; an office's by a floor area that includes space it shouldn't. Our property-type guides explain these one by one.
You can look up your current and previous rateable values, and those of similar properties near you, using the government's free "Find a business rates valuation" service on GOV.UK.
What changed at the 2026 revaluation?
Every business property in England and Wales got a new rateable value on 1 April 2026, based on rents at 1 April 2024. England also moved to five multipliers, with lower ones for retail, hospitality and leisure.
Revaluations happen every three years so that rateable values keep up with the property market. The previous list, from 1 April 2023, was based on rents at 1 April 2021, when many businesses were still feeling the effects of COVID-19. Some property types, pubs in particular, saw big jumps in 2026 as values caught up.
A higher rateable value doesn't always mean a much higher bill, because the multipliers changed at the same time and there are schemes that phase increases in. But a revaluation is also when mistakes creep in: new values, changed property details, and new valuation schemes for whole sectors. It's worth checking yours.
Read more in our guide to the 2026 business rates revaluation.
Which business rates reliefs could I get?
The main reliefs in England are small business rate relief, transitional relief, supporting small business relief, pubs and live music venues relief, empty property relief and charitable relief. Your council decides eligibility.
| Relief (England, 2026/27) | In short |
|---|---|
| Small business rate relief | No rates if your only property has a rateable value of £12,000 or less; tapering relief from £12,001 to £15,000. |
| Transitional relief | Limits how much a bill can rise each year because of the revaluation. For 2026/27 the cap is 5%, 15% or 30% depending on rateable value. Applied automatically. |
| Supporting small business relief | If you lost some or all of a relief at the 2026 revaluation, your bill rises by no more than £800 or a percentage cap, whichever is greater. |
| Pubs and live music venues relief | 15% off for eligible pubs and live music venues in 2026/27. |
| Empty property relief | No rates for 3 months after a property becomes empty (longer for some types, such as industrial premises and listed buildings). |
| Charitable rate relief | For property used by charities and community amateur sports clubs. |
Other reliefs include rural rate relief, improvement relief, hardship relief and reliefs in enterprise zones and freeports. Ask your council if you think one could apply.
Coming in 2027: at the Budget on 28 October 2026 the government announced changes due from 1 April 2027, including pubs relief rising to 35%, higher small business rate relief thresholds (£18,000 and £21,000) for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure property, and new multipliers for 2027/28.
In Wales, small business rates relief is different: full relief up to £6,000 rateable value, tapering to nothing at £12,000. Pubs, restaurants, cafes, bars and live music venues can get 15% off in 2026/27 under the Welsh food and drink hospitality relief.
What can I do if my rateable value looks wrong?
You can ask the VOA to correct it using Check, Challenge, Appeal through your free business rates valuation account on GOV.UK. A Check confirms the facts, a Challenge argues the value is wrong, and an Appeal goes to an independent tribunal.
- Check. Confirm or correct the facts the VOA holds: floor areas, the use of each area, parking, air conditioning and so on. You have to do this before you can challenge, even if the facts are right.
- Challenge. Argue that the value is wrong, with evidence and a proposed figure. Usually within 4 months of the Check decision.
- Appeal. If you disagree with the Challenge decision, appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for England (or Wales), usually within 4 months.
You can also raise a Check if something outside your control has affected your property, such as long-term roadworks or a neighbouring building being demolished or rebuilt. This is known as a material change of circumstances.
Be aware that a challenge can lead to your rateable value going up as well as down, and you have to keep paying your bill while it is being looked at. Our step-by-step guide on how to challenge business rates covers the deadlines and evidence in detail.
Should I do it myself or use a business rates surveyor?
You can do the whole process yourself for free. A rating surveyor may be worth it if you don't have the time, aren't sure how your property type is valued, or need help finding evidence and comparable properties.
There is nothing to stop you checking and challenging your own rateable value, and for a simple factual mistake, such as a wrongly measured floor, it can be quite straightforward.
A specialist business rates surveyor (often called a rating surveyor or rating agent) may help when:
- your property is valued on trade, like a pub or hotel, and the numbers are hard to follow
- you'd need to find and compare the valuations of similar properties
- you have several properties, or a large rateable value
- something nearby has affected your trade and you need to show its effect on value
- you're close to a deadline
Before you agree to anything, ask how they charge and get it in writing. We pass each enquiry to one business rates specialist (a firm of rating surveyors) from our partners; any fees are agreed directly between you and them before they do any work.
Where should I start?
Start with the guide for your type of property, then the guides to the 2026 revaluation and to challenging a rateable value.
Property types
Guides
We're adding guides for more property types each week, including hotels, restaurants, warehouses, care homes and nurseries.
Related guides
Business rates: frequently asked questions
Who sets my rateable value?
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which is part of HMRC, sets rateable values for business property in England and Wales. Your local council then uses that value to work out your bill and apply reliefs.
Is my rateable value the same as my rent?
No. It is the VOA's estimate of the yearly open-market rent on a set date (1 April 2024 for the current list), using standard assumptions such as the tenant paying for repairs and insurance. Your actual rent and lease terms can be quite different.
How do I find my rateable value?
Use the free 'Find a business rates valuation' service on GOV.UK. It also shows how the value was worked out for many property types and lets you look at similar properties nearby.
How much are business rates in England for 2026/27?
Multiply your rateable value by the multiplier that applies: 38.2p or 43p for retail, hospitality and leisure property, 43.2p or 48p for other property (the lower figure if your rateable value is under £51,000), or 50.8p for any property with a rateable value of £500,000 or more. Then reliefs are taken off.
Do small businesses pay business rates?
In England, if your business uses only one property and its rateable value is £12,000 or less, small business rate relief means you pay nothing. Between £12,001 and £15,000 the relief tapers down. In Wales full relief applies up to £6,000, tapering to nothing at £12,000.
When was the last revaluation?
New rateable values took effect in England and Wales on 1 April 2026, based on rental values at 1 April 2024. The previous revaluation took effect on 1 April 2023.
Can my business rates go up if I challenge?
Yes. The VOA can decide that your rateable value should go up, down or stay the same after a check or challenge, so it's worth understanding how your property is valued before you start.
Do I have to pay while I challenge my rateable value?
Yes. Keep paying your bill as normal while a check or challenge is looked at; GOV.UK says you must keep paying until the Valuation Tribunal decides an appeal. If the rateable value is reduced, your council recalculates the bill.
Is Business Rates Hub part of the council or the VOA?
No. Business Rates Hub is an independent website. We are not your council, the VOA or any government service, and you can check and challenge your rateable value yourself for free through your business rates valuation account on GOV.UK.
What happens if I send an enquiry?
We pass your details to one business rates specialist (a firm of rating surveyors) from our partners, who will contact you to talk about your property. It's free to enquire and there's no obligation. Any fees are agreed directly between you and them.
Does this site cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own business rates systems, valuation bodies and appeal routes. Our guides cover England and Wales.
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these official sources on 10 November 2026: