Small business rate relief
Small business rate relief (SBRR)
If you're a small business owner you might be eligible for business rates relief through the Government's small business rates relief scheme (SBRR).
If you qualify, your 2026 to 2027 bill will be calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier of 43.2 pence instead of the national non-domestic rating multiplier of 48.0 pence.
You qualify if:
- you occupy a property with a rateable value of less than £51,000
- you are not entitled to any other mandatory relief
What you get
You will not pay business rates on a property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less.
For properties with a rateable value of £12,001 to £15,000, the rate of relief will go down gradually by one per cent for every £30 of rateable value over £12,000.
The percentage reduction is generally only available if you occupy:
- one property
- or one main property and other additional properties providing they have a rateable value of less than £2,900 each and combined rateable value of less than £28,000
If you do have more than one property SBRR only applies to the main property.
If the rateable value increases to more than £27,999, your relief will stop from the day of the increase.
Additional support
Businesses will now keep their SBRR on their first property for 3 years, after they take on a second property, instead of 1 year.
Supporting Small Business Relief
Supporting Small Business Relief (SSBR) will be available to help ratepayers who have seen large increases to their bills as a result of losing some or all of their SBRR. This increase will be capped at £800 or the relevant transitional relief cap, whichever is greatest. This support is applied before changes in other reliefs or supplements.
For ratepayers receiving 2023 SSBR relief on 31 March 2026 (including those also receiving SBRR and/or RHL Relief on the same date), any eligibility for 2026 SSBR will end on 31 March 2027. All other eligible ratepayers will remain in 2026 SSBR for either 3 years or until they reach the bill they would have paid without the scheme.
How to apply
Once you are receiving SBRR, if you continue to satisfy the eligibility conditions you will automatically receive relief in each new valuation period.
You will need to tell us about these changes of circumstances:
- taking up occupation of an additional property
- an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer in an area other than the area of the local authority which granted the relief
