You may be eligible for the following business rates relief if you meet the criteria:

• retail, hospitality and leisure relief
• exempted and empty buildings rate relief
• non-profits and charities rate relief
• Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR)
• Extension of Transitional Relief and Supporting Small Business Relief
• local newspapers relief
• nurseries discount
• public lavatories rate relief
• hardship relief

Read detailed information about business rate relief from the government.

Retail, hospitality and leisure relief

You could qualify for retail, hospitality and leisure relief if your business is mainly being used as a:

• shop
• restaurant, café, bar or pub
• cinema or music venue
• hospitality or leisure business - for example, a gym, a spa or a hotel

What you’ll get

If you’re eligible, you could get 75% off your business rates bills for the 2023/24 billing year (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024) and the 2024/25 billing year (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025).

The most you can get in relief each billing year is £110,000 per business.

If you opt out of retail, hospitality and leisure relief for the 2023/24 billing year or the 2024/25 billing year you cannot change your mind.

The retail, hospitality and leisure scheme is likely to amount to subsidy. Any relief provided by local authorities under this scheme will need to comply with the UK’s domestic and international subsidy control obligations (See the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) guidance for public authorities which contains guidance and information for the UK subsidy control regime).

To the extent that a Local Authority is seeking to provide relief that falls below the Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) thresholds, the Subsidy Control Act allows an economic actor (e.g. a holding company and its subsidiaries) to receive up to £315,000 in a three-year period (consisting of the 2024/25 year and the two previous financial years). MFA subsidies cumulate with each other and with other subsidies that fall within the category of ‘Minimal or SPEI financial assistance’. BEIS COVID-19 business grants and any other subsidies claimed under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement should be counted towards the £315,000 allowance.

Exempted and empty buildings rate relief

This includes occupied, empty, unoccupied and partly occupied business premises.

See GOV.UK website for full details of exempted and empty buildings rate relief.

Part Occupation Relief

We may use our powers to grant rate relief to properties in the following circumstances:

• the property is partly occupied
• the part occupation is due to a planned vacation or occupation.

Relief will not be considered without accurate plans showing the occupied and unoccupied part. Please contact us if you wish to apply.

Non-profit and charities rate relief

The law gives councils the discretion to award rates relief (up to a maximum of 20% in respect of registered charities/Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC) and up to 100% in respect of other not for profit organisations).

A registered charity/CASC meeting the legislative criteria will receive mandatory relief of 80%. We're allowed to top this relief up with a further 0-20% to give up to 100% rate relief.

A not-for-profit organisation that meets the legislative criteria does not receive mandatory relief, but we can award between 0-100% relief.

Please read the policy, and if you think that your organisation meets the criteria, please submit an application to us using the details on the contact us page.

Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR)

You may be eligible for business rate relief if you have a small business. You will need to apply to us for the relief, but the government provides details of the SBRR criteria.

Extension of Supporting Small Business Relief

You may be eligible for business rate relief if you had a large increase in the business property’s rateable value following the revaluation of 2023.

There are further details of the extension of Supporting Small Business Relief on GOV.UK.

Local newspapers rate relief

You may be eligible for business rate relief if you run a local newspaper.

See GOV.UK website for full details of Newspaper Rate Relief.

Public lavatories rate relief

100% business rates relief is provided to standalone public lavatories in England since April 2020.

Hardship relief

If you’re a ratepayer, you can apply for discretionary hardship relief if you can show that you would be in financial difficulties if you had to pay your business rates, and that if we granted the relief, it would be in the interests of local people. As this is discretionary, contact us if you think you are entitled to this relief.