From 1 April 2024, Rural Rate Relief became a 100% mandatory relief for specific businesses in rural settlements which have a population of less than 3000 people. Our rural settlement list is published in December each year.

View our District’s Designated Rural Settlements List 2026/2027. [PDF, 0.5MB]

To qualify the property must be:

• the only food shop, general store or post office in a settlement with a rateable value that does not exceed £8,500; or
• the only petrol filling station or pub in a settlement with a rateable value that does not exceed £12,500.
• And the property must be occupied.

Full details can be obtained from the local authority.

Please note, ‘food shop' means a trade or business consisting wholly or mainly for the retail sale of food for human consumption, not including confectionery and catering. In this context catering means any supply of food for consumption on the premises and any supply of hot food for consumption off the premises.

Registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) can receive 80% Rate Relief.

To qualify as a CASC, a sports club must:

• be open to the whole community
• be run as an amateur club
• be a non-profit-making organisation
• aim to provide facilities for, and encourage people to take part in, eligible sport.

If you are a sports club which has not yet registered as a CASC and are interested in the registration process, please visit the Inland Revenue Sports club site or call the Inland Revenue Sports Clubs Unit on 0300 123 1073.

Further top-up relief may also be available, please refer to our Discretionary Relief page for further details.

If you are a registered charity, you can be 80% relief from Business Rates, on any Non-Domestic property that is occupied and wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes.

It is not possible to receive both Charitable Relief and Small Business Rate Relief on the same property.

Further top-up relief may also be available, please refer to our Discretionary Relief page for further details.

Businesses will now keep their Small Business Rates Relief on their first property for 3 years after they take on a second property, instead of just 1year, this was announced in the Autumn Budget 26 November 2025. 

Small Business Rate Relief may be available if a Ratepayer’s property has a rateable value of less than £15,000.

This applies to an individual, organisation, trust, partnership, or other types of businesses.

This rate relief applies if:

• you are a single business property in England which has a rateable value of less than £15,000; or
• if you have one main property in England with a rateable value (RV) of less than £15,000 and other additional properties, provided that those properties have RV's of less than £2,899. 

The total RV of all properties have to be under £20,000. The relief will be eligible for relief on the main property only.

• you get a second property, which would normally take you out of the eligibility criteria for this relief. You’ll keep getting any existing relief on your main property for 3 years from the date of occupation of the additional property.

You can still get small business rate relief on your main property only after this if both the following apply:

• none of your other properties have a rateable value above £2,899
• the total rateable value of all your properties is less than £20,000

Ratepayers can only claim relief for one property, which must be occupied.

Properties with a rateable value between £12,000 and £14,999 are entitled to relief, which is on a sliding scale. The relief reduces by 1% for every £30 of Rateable Value, from £12,000 (100%) to £15,000 (0%).

If you receive a Small Business Rate Relief and your rateable value increases to more than £14,999 because of a change to your rating, then the Small Business Rate Relief is cancelled from the date of the change.

If you are receiving a Small Business Rate Relief and there is a change in your circumstances, you must let us know within 4 weeks of the change happening. The changes you must notify us of are:

• use of an additional property (relief will continue for 3 years after taking on an additional property on or after 26 November 2025, which has a rateable value that meets the existing relief criteria)
• an increase in the rateable value of a property, which is being occupied in an area other than where we granted the relief.

Small Business Rate Relief grace period

Businesses will now keep their Small Business Rate Relief on their first property for 3 years, after they take on a second property, instead of 1 year.

In 2021 the Non-Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Bill came into force which gives public lavatories 100% relief from Business Rates. The relief will not apply to toilets which are part of a larger business unit, for example, toilets in public libraries. This bill has been applied retrospectively from 1 April 2020.

Read more information on this relief

The 2026 Supporting Small Business (SSB) Relief Scheme helps limit business rates increases for businesses that lose eligibility for certain reliefs. 

Eligibility 

You may qualify if you are no longer eligible for one or more of the following: 

• Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR)  
• 40% Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief  
• Rural Rate Relief  
• 2023 Supporting Small Business Relief  

How the relief works

If eligible, your bill increase will be capped at:

• £800, or  
• The transitional relief cap, whichever is higher  

Ongoing eligibility

• If you were receiving SSB Relief on 31 March 2026 due to the 2023 revaluation, you will continue to receive it (if still eligible) for the 2026/27 financial year.  
• This support will end on 31 March 2027.  

Special circumstances 

If you lost Small Business Rate Relief during 2025/26 because you no longer met the second property rule but were granted a 12-month grace period (or up to 3 years from 27 November 2025), you can continue to receive SSB Relief during this grace period. 

When the relief will end 

Your relief will stop if: 

• Your bill reaches the full amount payable without the scheme  
• The property becomes vacant  
• The property is occupied by a charity or Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC)  

How to receive the relief 

You do not need to apply.

If you are eligible, the relief will be automatically applied to your business rates account.

If you believe you should be receiving this relief, but it has not been applied, please contact the Business Rates team. 

Changes in circumstances 

Your relief may be adjusted if your circumstances change, for example: 

• You vacate the property  
• Your property’s rateable value is updated 

Supporting Small Business Relief Scheme is subject to the Minimal Financial Assistance thresholds under the Subsidy Control Act. This means no recipient can receive over £315,000 over a 3-year period (consisting of the current financial year and the 2 previous financial years). Any other subsidies claimed under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance limit of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement should be counted under the £315,000 allowance.

This relief is designed to help pubs and live music venues; they will be entitled to a further reduction of 15% after any other eligible rate relief(s).

The relief applies only to occupied properties. Full eligibility details can be found on the GOV.UK website.

There will be 100% business rate relief for 10 years for:

• electric vehicle charging points
• electric vehicle only forecourts

The Valuation Office Agency assesses these separately to ensure they face no business rate liability.

A heat network supplies heating or cooling from a central source to multiple buildings, such as homes, offices, shops, hospitals, or public buildings. It does not include industrial processes.

Heat Network Relief is available for properties used wholly or mainly as a heat network. 

From 1 April 2024, this relief is mandatory if your property meets government criteria. 

Eligibility

Your property may qualify if it: 

• Is wholly or mainly used as a heat network  
• Supplies heat or cooling to other properties (not industrial use)  
• Uses a low carbon energy source, expected over the next 12 months  

Hybrid systems with gas backups or Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems may qualify if they meet the low-carbon requirement.

You can check if your property is eligible on the Valuation Office Agency page on the GOV.UK website. 

What you'll get

Eligible properties do not pay business rates. 

How to apply 

Contact the Valuation Office part of HMRC to check eligibility. If your property qualifies, the Valuation Office will issue a certificate to the local authority, and the relief will be applied automatically.

Further guidance on this relief can be found on the GOV.UK website.