Find out what qualifies for a business rate reduction and how to apply.
Non-domestic rates (business rates) collected by the Council are the way that those who occupy non-domestic property contribute towards the cost of local services. Under the business rates retention arrangements introduced from 1st April 2013, the Council keeps a proportion of the business rates paid locally. This provides a direct financial incentive for the Council to work with local businesses to create a favourable local environment for growth since the Council will benefit from growth in business rates revenues. The money, together with revenue from council tax payers, locally generated income and grants provided by the Government, is used to pay for the services provided by the Council and other local authorities in your area. Further information about the business rates system, including reliefs, may be obtained at www.gov.uk
Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the valuation officers of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an agency of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. They draw up and maintain a full list of all rateable values, available on their website at www.gov.uk/valuation
The rateable value of your property is shown on the front of your bill. This broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date. For the revaluation that came into effect on 1st April 2023, this date was set as 1st April 2022.
The VOA may alter the value if circumstances change. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can request a change to the value if they believe it is wrong, through the Check, Challenge, and Appeal (CCA) process. Full details on your rights of appeal are available from the Valuation Office Agency. The Council can only backdate any business rates rebate to the date from which any change to the list is to have effect.
Further information about the grounds on which appeals may be made and the process for doing so can be found on www.gov.uk
You can contact the VOA.
The Council works out the business rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate multiplier. There are two multipliers:
The current multipliers are shown on the front of your bill.
Except in the City of London where special arrangements apply, the Government sets the multipliers for each financial year for the whole of England according to formulae set by legislation. In his autumn budget statement the Chancellor confirmed the multipliers for 2024/25.
Payment of business rate bills is automatically set on a ten-monthly cycle (April to January) to cover the whole year. However, the Government has put in place regulations that allow businesses to require the Council to enable payments to be made through twelve monthly instalments. If you wish to take up this offer, you should contact the Council as soon as possible.
All rateable values are reassessed at a general revaluation. The most recent revaluation took effect from 1 April 2023. Revaluations make sure each ratepayer pays their fair contribution and no more, by ensuring that the share of the national rates bill paid by any one ratepayer reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others.
A general revaluation will take place every three years.
Supporting Small Business Relief - SSBR: the Government has introduced SSBR to support small business from large changes in rate liability where ratepayers will receive less or no small business rate relief.
Where entitlement to small business rate relief has been lost resulting from the revaluation, the SSBR scheme restricts the annual increase in business rates bills to £600 each year.
Business rates will not be payable in the first three months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial properties. After this period rates are payable in full. For properties owned by charities and community amateur sports clubs the unoccupied property rate is zero in most cases. In addition, there are a number of exemptions from the unoccupied property rate. Full details on exemptions can be obtained from the Council.
Depending on individual circumstances, a ratepayer may be eligible for a rate relief (i.e. a reduction in their business rates bill). There are a range of available reliefs. Further details are provided below and on the business rates webpages on the Government website (external link), at the website of your local authority which is normally shown on your rates bill, or by contacting your local authority.
Some of the reliefs are set out below. Further detail on current temporary reliefs is available on the business rate relief webpages on the government website (external link). You should contact your local authority for details on the latest availability of business rates reliefs and advice on whether you may qualify.
Charities and registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs are entitled to 80% relief where the property is occupied by the charity or the club and is wholly or mainly used for the charitable purposes of the charity (or of that and other charities), or for the purposes of the club (or of that and other clubs). The local authority has discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill. Full details can be obtained from the local authority.
In the Autumn Budget Statement, the Government announced another extension to the expanded retail, hospitality & leisure discount. From the 1 April 2024 some ratepayers will qualify for a 75% discount. All ratepayers qualifying for expanded retail, hospitality & leisure discount will be capped to a maximum relief of £110,000 for all their properties. Qualification is subject to new Subsidy Control regime commenced from 4 January 2023. If your bill shows retail relief, you should check that you comply with the new UK subsidy control regime.
The new UK subsidy control regime commenced from 4 January 2023. The new regime enables public authorities, including devolved administrations and local authorities, to deliver subsidies that are tailored for local needs. Public authorities giving subsidies must comply with the UK’s international subsidy control commitments. The subsidy control legislation provides the framework for a new, UK-wide subsidy control regime. Further information about subsidy control can be found on the government's website.
The Council has a general power to grant discretionary local discounts. Details can be obtained from the Council.
Small business rate relief is available to ratepayers of a property with a rateable value which does not exceed £50,999. Qualifying ratepayers will have their bill calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier, rather than the standard national non-domestic rating multiplier.
In addition, if the sole or main property is shown on the rating list with a rateable value which does not exceed £15,000, the ratepayer will receive a percentage reduction in rates 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.
This percentage reduction (relief) is only available to ratepayers who occupy either-
(a) one property, or
(b) one main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have a rateable value which does not exceed £2,899.
In London the rateable value of the property mentioned in (a), or the aggregate rateable value of all the properties mentioned in (b), must not exceed £27,999 on each day for which relief is being sought. If the rateable value, or aggregate rateable value, increases above those levels, relief will cease from the day of the increase.
The Government has introduced additional support for small businesses. For those businesses that take on an additional property which would normally have meant the loss of small business rate relief, the Government has confirmed that they will be allowed to keep that relief for a period of twelve months.
Where a ratepayer meets the eligibility criteria and has not received the relief they should contact the Council. Provided the ratepayer continues to satisfy the conditions for relief which apply at the relevant time as regards the property and the ratepayer, they will automatically continue to receive relief in each new valuation period.
Certain changes in circumstances will need to be notified to the Council by a ratepayer who is in receipt of relief (other changes will be picked up by the Council). The changes which should be notified are-
(a) the ratepayer taking up occupation of an additional property, and
(b) an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer in an area other than the area of the Council which granted the relief.
Ratepayers do not have to be represented in discussions about their rateable value or their rates bill. However, ratepayers who do wish to be represented should be aware that members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV) are qualified and are regulated by rules of professional conduct designed to protect the public from misconduct. Before you employ a rating adviser, you should check that they have the necessary knowledge and expertise, as well as appropriate indemnity insurance. Take great care and, if necessary, seek further advice before entering into any contract.
Information relating to the relevant and previous financial years in regard to the gross expenditure of the local authority is available at www.surreyheath.gov.uk A hard copy is available on request by writing to the local authority or at 01276 707100.
Immediately a property becomes unoccupied, please notify the Business Rates Section at Surrey Heath Borough Council. Failure to give such notice may prejudice the right to a refund or reduction as the onus of proving the empty periods rests with the claimant.
The Council uses the rateable value provided by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to work out your business rates bill. You can check you rateable value and compare it with others on the VOA website (external link).
You can also get in touch if you need to let them know of any issues or if you feel your Rateable Value is too high and would like to appeal against it, you should contact the Valuation Office Agency:
Telephone: 03000 501501
Email: ratingsoutheast@voa.gsi.gov.uk