Rates discounts and exemptions

You can get Small Business Rate Relief if the rateable value of your property is below £15,000 and meets either of the below criteria:

• it is your only business property
• it is your main business property, but you also have other business properties each with rateable values under £2,900 and the total rateable value of all properties is less than £20,000.

The main property receives the discount.

If you already get Small Business Rate Relief and add a second business property, you’ll continue to receive your existing discount for 12 months.

Small Business Rate Relief is on a sliding scale:

• properties with a rateable value of up to £12,000 get 100% relief
• properties with a rateable value between £12,001 and £15,000 relief goes down gradually from 100% at £12,001 to 0% at £15,000

To apply

You’ll need your:

• full business address including postcode
• 10-digit business rate account number (starting with 88)

Apply for Small Business Rates Relief

Change of circumstances

You must tell us of the following changes if:

• you occupy an extra business property
• the rateable value of any of your property changes

Tell us of a change of circumstances

Even if you are not eligible for Small Business Rate Relief, we will calculate your bill using the lower small business multiplier rather than the standard multiplier if both the below apply:

• the rateable value of the property is less than £51,000
• no other relief or unoccupied rates apply

If the property is empty, an exemption of 100% will be given for 3 months from the first day the premises is emptied (or 6 months where the property is industrial or a warehouse).

If the property is an empty new build, there is an 18-month rate free relief period.

After this most businesses must pay full business rates unless:

• a charity owns the property and the next use will be mostly for charitable purposes
• a community amateur sports club owns the property and the next use is likely to be for the club
• the rateable value is less than £2,900 (since 1 April 2017)
• the law prohibits the owner from occupying the property
• the property is a listed building
• the property is an Ancient Monument
• a deceased person’s estate is the owner
• if the following insolvency or debt administration situation exists:
  • a bankruptcy order is issued
  • the owner is a trustee under a deed of arrangement
  • the owner is a company subject to a winding up order
  • the owner is a company in administration

To apply

You’ll need your:

• 10-digit business rate account number (starting with 88)
• full address including postcode

Apply for empty property relief

If you use your property either wholly or mainly for charitable purposes, you will get an 80% discount.

We can also apply a discount if not-for-profit organisations use it.

Please see our Discretionary Rate Relief Policy.

To apply

Complete the Mandatory and Discretionary Rate Relief application form [docx] 64KB and then return by email or by post.

If you are a ratepayer in difficulty, we may be able to help. You may be able to apply for a discretionary hardship rate relief.

You might be able to get this relief if your business is suffering hardship and all the following apply:

• the circumstances leading to the hardship are both beyond the control of the business and outside of the normal risks associated with running a business
• the difficulties are temporary and the business has a good chance of being viable in the long term
• the business might fail if we do not give hardship relief

You must be able to show you are taking steps to help yourself overcome the problems you are facing.

You cannot get hardship relief to help set up a new business unless the viability of the business is threatened by events you could not reasonably have foreseen.

If we decide to give a discount you could get up to 100% off your bill

To apply

You’ll need the following information:

• the address/es relating to the application
• a detailed explanation of why you are asking for rate relief
• 3 years audited accounts
• a statement explaining why payment of business rates would cause hardship
• a statement detailing what solutions you have explored to increase profitability and to reduce outgoings
• a note on how many employees you have
• a list of any other local business you deal with together with reasons
• any other relevant information

Apply for hardship rate discount

What happens next

We'll look at your application considering what you tell us about the situation and the efforts you are making to help yourself. As hardship relief is a discretionary relief, we also must consider whether giving you relief is the right use of Council Taxpayer’s money.

We look at what is reasonable financially and at whether the loss of the business would harm the local community.

We are more likely to give hardship relief in situations where:

• there will be job losses if we do not
• a business supplies the only goods or services of a specific type in the local area
• the business supplies specialist goods or services that are not widely available

Once we have made our decision, we will send you a new bill or let you know why you cannot get a discount.

We try to make decisions within 4 weeks of getting all the information.

If you disagree with our decision, you can appeal by emailing us.

Hardship rate relief does not renew but you can reapply each year.

You could get rural rate relief if your business is in a rural area with a population below 3,000.

You will not pay business rates if your business is in an eligible area and is either of the below:

• the only village shop or post office with a rateable value of up to £8,500
• the only public house or petrol filling station with a rateable value of up to £12,500

To apply

Please include the following in your request to us:

• 10-digit business rate account number (starting with 88)
• full address including postcode

Apply for help for rural areas

You must pay the full rates even if your property is only partly occupied.

We can give a discretionary temporary discount if you are using only part of your property and the unused part will only be for a short time.

The relief for the unoccupied area would apply for 3 months (or 6 months if it is an industrial property). It would stop at the end of a rating year.

We apply the discount if the partial occupation is temporary and typical reasons are:

• the business is moving into a property gradually over a period of months
• the business is moving out of a property gradually, over a period of months
• the business has moved temporarily and parts of the premises are unoccupied
• the property has sustained damage and some parts are unusable

To apply

You’ll need the following information:

• 10-digit business rate account number (starting with 88)
• full address including postcode
• a detailed plan showing the occupied/unoccupied areas including measurements
• date part occupation starts
• reasons for part occupation
• plans for unoccupied part
• date part occupation ends

Before considering an application, an inspector will visit the property.

Apply for partly occupied property relief

Supporting Small Business (SSB) scheme will cap bill increases at £600 per year for any business losing eligibility for some or all Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief at the 2023 revaluation. SSB was first introduced at the 2017 revaluation to support ratepayers facing bill increases greater than the Transitional Relief caps due to loss of Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief.

The 2017 SSB scheme was provided to support small and medium ratepayers who had seen large increases in their bills at the 2017 revaluation. They have, therefore, had 6 years of support to allow them to adjust to their full 2017 bills. Therefore, for those ratepayers receiving 2017 SSB relief in 2022/23, any eligibility for 2023 SSB will end on 31 March 2024.

All other eligible ratepayers remain in the 2023 SSB scheme for 3 years or until they reach the bill they would have paid without the scheme. A change of ratepayers will not affect eligibility for the Supporting Small Business scheme, but eligibility will be lost if the property falls vacant or becomes occupied by a charity or Community Amateur Sports Club.

For more information on the 2023 scheme Business Rates Relief: 2023 Supporting Small Business Relief, local authority guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Qualifying businesses will be eligible for 75% rate relief off their business rates bills for the period 1 April to 31 March up to a maximum award of £110,000 per business.

Where a business occupies multiple premises, the £110,00 limit is spread across all premises. This includes where a business has a qualifying connection with another business (such as a parent/subsidiary business or holding company).

Under no circumstances can businesses exceed the £110,000 cash cap across their business premises in England.

If a business believes it will exceed the £110,000 limit, please email  revenues.benefits@arun.gov.uk

You may qualify for this discount if your property is occupied and your business is a:

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

For more information on this scheme Business Rates Relief: 2024/25 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

In most cases we have automatically applied the discount. If we have not applied the discount and you think you are eligible then please apply below.

If you’re eligible for this discount we’ll send you a new bill showing you how much you’ll have to pay for the rest of the year.

If you’re not eligible for the discount we’ll write and tell you why we made the decision.

Apply for retail rate relief

You can opt out of the relief but you will not be able to opt back in.

If you make certain improvements to your property, you may get relief from higher business rates bills. You do not need to apply for improvement relief or do anything differently. If you meet the necessary requirements, we will apply the relief to your bills. You can find out more about which improvements are eligible by going to GOV.UK and searching ‘business rates reliefs.’ If you have questions about a certificate of qualifying works, please contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) at the email address on your certificate. The VOA cannot answer queries about the occupation condition or your business rates bill.

What is improvement relief?

• Improvement relief supports businesses who have invested in their property.  
• It provides relief from higher business rates bills, where the increase in your bill was due to making certain improvements to your property.
• The relief lasts for 12 months from when the improvement works were completed.

Who is eligible for improvement relief? 

• We will apply the relief to your bills if you are eligible.  You do not need to apply.     
• To be eligible for improvement relief, you must have qualifying improvement works, and meet the occupation condition.  

How does improvement relief work? 

• You will receive a certificate from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) if you have qualifying works.  The VOA will give the same information to us.
• We will apply the relief and send you a revised bill if we are satisfied that you meet the occupation requirements. This means that you have occupied the property during and after the improvement works.

I have received a certificate from the VOA – what does this mean?

• If you have received a certificate of qualifying works from the VOA, this means that you may be eligible for improvement relief.
• Improvement relief provides relief from higher business rates bills, where the increase in your bill was due to making certain improvements to your property. 
• The VOA will send this information to your local council. 
• We will apply the relief to your business rates bill if you also meet the occupation condition.

I think my certificate for improvement relief is wrong. Who should I contact? 

• The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) values qualifying works and issues certificates to ratepayers.
•  There is no right of appeal against the certified values, however, you should let the VOA know if you think there is something wrong with your certificate.
• You can contact the VOA using the email address on your letter.

Where can I find out more information about improvement relief?

To find out more about improvement relief  Business rates relief: Types of business rates relief - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)