Business rates
About business rates
Business rates are taxes paid on Non Domestic properties. Use our online form to register a new business.
Business rate changes from 1 April 2026
From 1 April 2026 there will be significant changes to how business rates bills are calculated. These changes may affect the amount you pay.
What is changing?
Business rate bills are currently calculated using two multipliers based on a property's rateable value. From 1 April 2026 the number of non-domestic rates multipliers will increase to five.
Retail Hospitality and Leisure relief (RHL) will end on 31 March 2026 and properties that are occupied wholly or mainly for qualifying retail, hospitality or leisure purposes will have their bills calculated using new multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure.
New Non-Domestic Rating Multipliers for 2026/27
Multiplier | Rateable Value (RV) | (Pence in the Pound)* |
|---|---|---|
Small Business RHL Multiplier | Below £51,000 | 38.2 |
Small Business Multiplier | Below £51,000 | 43.2 |
Standard RHL Multiplier | £51,000 to £499,000 | 43.0 |
Standard Multiplier | £51,000 to £499,000 | 48.0 |
High-Value Multiplier | £500,000 and above | 50.8 |
*A 1p supplement will be added to the relevant multiplier rate for ratepayers who do not receive Transitional Relief or the Supporting Small Business Relief.
Rateable Values
The multiplier used in the calculation of your bill will be determined by the property's rateable value. Business rates bills for 2026/27 will be calculated using the rateable value set in the 2026 Revaluation. Further details are available in our revaluation information section.
Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief
A new 15% business rates relief for 2026/27 will be applied to eligible pubs and live music venues that are occupied. The relief will be applied on top of any other reliefs already received.
Full eligibility details can be found on the government's website: Pub and Live Music Venues Relief 2026 to 2027.
You do not need to apply for this relief, it will be automatically awarded in your 2026/27 business rates bill. If after reading the eligibility details, you believe that you do qualify for Pub and Live Music Venues Relief and it has not included in the calculation of your 2026/27 bill, then please email [email protected] giving reasons why you qualify. Please put "Pub Relief" and your business rates reference number in the subject field of the email.
Transitional Relief Scheme
Transitional relief limits how much your bill can change each year allowing any changes to be gradually phased in over a period of time. To support ratepayers facing large bill increases at the Revaluation the government is introducing a redesigned Transitional Relief scheme.
Transitional relief will be automatically applied to the business rate bills of the ratepayers that qualify. It is not necessary for you to make a claim for this relief.
2026 Supporting Small Business (SSB) Scheme
Bill increases for ratepayers losing some or all their small business rates relief will be capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief caps from 1 April 2026. The 2026 SSB relief scheme has been expanded to ratepayers losing their RHL relief.
Supporting Small Business Relief will be automatically applied to the business rate bills of the ratepayers that qualify. It is not necessary for you to make a claim for this relief.
What are we doing?
We have been reviewing business rated properties to make sure that the correct multiplier is used when calculating your bills from 1 April 2026. Decisions on RHL Multiplier properties have been made in line with Government guidance.
What can you do to prepare for the changes?
- check your rateable value including the 2026 revaluation figure
- visit our revaluation information section pages for further details
check your 2026/27 bills when you receive them in March of this year
If your bill has not been calculated using a RHL Multiplier and your property is being used for qualifying retail hospitality and leisure purposes then contact us at [email protected].
When emailing, please put your account reference and "RHL Multiplier" in the subject of the email and provide details of how the property is being wholly or mainly used together with the date that you started to use the property for that purpose.
For further information on qualifying purposes for RHL relief and activities that are excluded from relief exclusions, please visit the GOV.UK information page.
