Ratepayers who are not entitled to other relief or are liable for unoccupied property rates and occupy a property with a rateable value that does not exceed £50,999 will have their bill calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier, rather than the national non-domestic rating multiplier.
If the sole or main property has a rateable value which does not exceed £15,000, the ratepayer will receive a percentage reduction in their rates bill for this property of up to a maximum of 100%.
For a property with a rateable value of not more than £12,000, the ratepayer will receive a 100% reduction in their rates bill.
Generally, this relief is only available to ratepayers who occupy either:
- 1 property, or
- 1 main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have a rateable value which does not exceed £2,899
The rateable value of the property or aggregate properties must not exceed £19,999 outside London or £27,999 in London on each day for which relief is being sought.
Certain changes in circumstances will need to be notified to the local authority by a ratepayer who is in receipt of relief (other changes will be picked up by the local authority). The changes which should be notified are:
- the ratepayer taking up occupation of an additional property, and
- an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer in an area other than the area of the local authority which granted the relief
Small business relief application
The qualification criteria for the awarding of small business relief are shown below:
- you occupy a non-domestic property with a rateable value of below £15,000
- the property has not been awarded, or would be entitled to mandatory relief
- any secondary occupied non-domestic property in England has an individual rateable value of below £2,900 or is empty
- the total of all your occupied non-domestic property in England is below £20,000 (£28,000 in London).
If all of the above criteria are met, you will be entitled to relief.
If you qualify, the amount of relief you receive will depend on your property's rateable value.
- rateable value up to £12,000 = 100% Relief
- rateable value £12,001 to £15,000 = 0% - 100% Relief
The threshold for eligibility to the small business rates multiplier has increased to £51,000. For periods prior to 31 March 2024, only occupied properties can qualify, however, from 1 April 2024, unoccupied properties and charities are also eligible. This means that if a property has a rateable value between £1 and £51,000, business rates will be calculated using the small business rate multiplier not the standard multiplier, which is higher.
Apply for Small Business Rate Relief
You will need to notify us if:
- you take up occupation of an additional property, and
- an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by you in an area other than the area of the local authority which granted the relief
Email us at businessrates@hillingdon.gov.uk for more information.