Business Rates in England: A 2026 Guide

Business Rates Estimator (2026/27)

Enter your rateable value and choose whether the property is used for retail, hospitality or leisure. The tool applies the correct 2026/27 multiplier and flags whether Small Business Rate Relief is likely to reduce or wipe out the bill.

What business rates are and who pays them

Business rates are a property tax on non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. They are collected by your local council and help fund local services. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate systems, so the multipliers and reliefs below apply only in England (Wales uses its own rates but a similar structure).

The person or company in occupation of the property normally pays. If a property is empty, the owner or leaseholder is usually liable after the first few rate-free months. You can be charged even if you rent the space rather than own it, and even if the property is a room, a stall, or a market pitch that is used for business.

You may also owe business rates when you run a business from home, but only if part of your home is used exclusively for the business, or if customers or staff visit regularly. A laptop on the kitchen table does not count; a converted garage used as a workshop often does. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) decides whether a home-based use is rateable.

How your bill is calculated

There are only two ingredients in a business rates bill: the rateable value of the property, and the multiplier that applies to it. The council multiplies one by the other, then deducts any relief you are entitled to.

The rateable value is set by the VOA and represents the estimated open-market annual rent your property could have been let for on a fixed valuation date. The multiplier is set each year by the government and is expressed in pence in the pound. A multiplier of 48 pence, for example, means you pay 48 pence of rates for every pound of rateable value.

Councils send bills once a year, usually in February or March, for the tax year that runs from 1 April to 31 March. Most bills are payable in ten monthly instalments, though you can ask to pay in twelve.

The five 2026/27 multipliers

From 1 April 2026 the government replaced the old two-multiplier system with five multipliers. The change is designed to give permanent lower rates to retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) businesses, funded by a higher rate on the largest properties. Which multiplier applies depends on two things: your rateable value band, and whether your property is used for RHL trade.

The RHL categories cover shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, gyms, hotels, cinemas, music venues and similar customer-facing venues. Offices, warehouses, factories and most professional premises use the non-RHL multipliers. Any property with a rateable value of 500,000 pounds or more uses the single high value multiplier, regardless of sector.

Rateable value and the 2026 revaluation

The rateable value is the VOA's estimate of what your property would have rented for on the open market on a fixed date called the Antecedent Valuation Date. For the 2026 revaluation that took effect on 1 April 2026, the antecedent date is 1 April 2024. That means the 2026/27 rateable values reflect rental evidence from spring 2024, not today's market.

The VOA revalues all non-domestic properties in England on a rolling three-year cycle. The next revaluation is scheduled for 1 April 2029, based on rental evidence from 1 April 2027.

You can look up your property's current rateable value free on the gov.uk Find a Business Rates Valuation service. If the property is altered (extended, split, or partly demolished), the VOA can change the rateable value mid-cycle. You must tell the VOA about changes that affect the value.

Small Business Rate Relief in 2026/27

Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is the biggest single relief available. If your only business property has a rateable value of 12,000 pounds or less, you pay nothing at all. Between 12,001 and 15,000 pounds the relief tapers on a straight line from 100 percent down to 0 percent.

You still qualify for SBRR if you use more than one property, but only if the additional properties each have a rateable value below 2,900 pounds and the total rateable value across all your properties is under 20,000 pounds (28,000 pounds in London). When you take on a second property that would normally break these limits, you keep SBRR on your main property for a grace period. The grace period was extended from 12 months to 36 months for second properties acquired on or after 27 November 2025.

SBRR is applied by your local council. Many councils apply it automatically once your rateable value is known, but if your bill still shows the full amount you should contact the council directly and ask for the relief to be added.

Other reliefs and edge cases

Empty properties get 100 percent relief for the first three months (six months for industrial premises such as warehouses and factories), then pay the full charge. Some empty listed buildings and low-value properties (rateable value under 2,900 pounds) stay exempt.

Registered charities and community amateur sports clubs get 80 percent mandatory relief on premises used mainly for their charitable purposes, and councils can top this up with discretionary relief of up to a further 20 percent.

Other reliefs include rural rate relief (for pubs, post offices and shops in villages under 3,000 people), hardship relief (at the council's discretion), and transitional relief that caps year-on-year increases when a revaluation would otherwise cause a sharp jump. Transitional relief runs alongside the 2026 revaluation for properties where the rateable value has risen significantly.

Disputing your rateable value: Check, Challenge, Appeal

If you believe your rateable value is too high, you can dispute it free of charge through the VOA's three-stage Check, Challenge, Appeal process. You must register for a Business Rates Valuation Account first.

In the Check stage you confirm or correct the facts the VOA holds about the property, such as floor area and use. In the Challenge stage you provide evidence that the rateable value is wrong, typically rental evidence for comparable properties around the antecedent date. Appeal, the final stage, goes to the independent Valuation Tribunal.

You should keep paying your current bill while a challenge is in progress. If the challenge succeeds, the council refunds any overpayment. Beware paid agents who promise guaranteed reductions in exchange for a percentage of savings; the process is free to use yourself and the Valuation Office publishes plain-English guides.

Worked examples for 2026/27

Example 1: A village hairdresser with a rateable value of 9,500 pounds. The salon is RHL-eligible and it is the owner's only property. Rateable value is under 12,000, so SBRR gives 100 percent relief. Annual bill: 0 pounds.

Example 2: A mid-sized independent bookshop, rateable value 35,000 pounds, RHL-eligible. SBRR does not apply because the rateable value is over 15,000. The small business RHL multiplier of 38.2p applies. 35,000 x 0.382 = 13,370 pounds a year, before any discretionary local relief.

Example 3: A medium-sized office at 120,000 pounds rateable value, not RHL. The standard multiplier of 48.0p applies (rateable value sits between 51,000 and 500,000, and the office is not RHL). 120,000 x 0.480 = 57,600 pounds a year.

Example 4: A large distribution warehouse at 620,000 pounds rateable value. The high value multiplier of 50.8p applies to everything above 500,000 (and here it applies to the whole rateable value because that is how the band works). 620,000 x 0.508 = 314,960 pounds a year.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is my rateable value based on? Your rateable value is the Valuation Office Agency's estimate of the annual open-market rent your property could have been let for on a fixed date. For the 2026/27 tax year that date is 1 April 2024, so today's rateable values reflect rental evidence from spring 2024.

How often are properties revalued for business rates? England now runs a three-year revaluation cycle. The current values took effect on 1 April 2026 and will last until 31 March 2029. The next revaluation will be on 1 April 2029, based on rents at 1 April 2027.

Do I pay business rates if I work from home? Usually not, if you only use a small part of your home occasionally for work. You may be liable if part of your home is used exclusively for the business, if you have made changes such as converting a garage or outbuilding, or if customers and staff visit regularly. The VOA decides case by case, and Small Business Rate Relief often cancels the bill even where a rating is applied.

Which multiplier applies to my property in 2026/27? If your rateable value is 500,000 pounds or more, the high value multiplier of 50.8p applies to any sector. Otherwise, if the property is used for retail, hospitality or leisure you use 38.2p (rateable value under 51,000) or 43.0p (51,000 to 499,999). For all other trades you use 43.2p (rateable value under 51,000) or 48.0p (51,000 to 499,999).

How does Small Business Rate Relief work in 2026? If your only business property has a rateable value up to 12,000 pounds you pay nothing. Between 12,001 and 15,000 pounds the relief tapers linearly from 100 percent to zero, so a 13,500-pound property gets 50 percent off and a 14,000-pound property gets about 33 percent off. Above 15,000 the relief ends.

Can I appeal my rateable value? Yes, through the VOA's free Check, Challenge, Appeal service. You register for a Business Rates Valuation Account, then confirm or correct the property facts (Check), submit valuation evidence (Challenge), and if still not resolved, take the case to the Valuation Tribunal (Appeal). You should keep paying your current bill in the meantime.

Are empty properties charged business rates? Empty non-industrial properties get 100 percent relief for three months, then pay the full charge. Empty industrial properties (such as warehouses and factories) get six months free. Properties with a rateable value under 2,900 pounds and some listed empty buildings are exempt for longer.

Related Calculators

Business Rates Calculator | Council Tax Calculator | Corporation Tax 2026 Calculator | Vat Calculator

Related Guides

VAT Guide UK | Employer NI Guide | Stamp Duty Rates Guide