Small business rate relief

This relief was introduced by the government in 2005 in order to assist small businesses with the burden of paying rates. Initially the maximum level of relief available was 50%, but from 1 October 2010 this was increased to 100%. Relief can usually be backdated to the beginning of the current rating list.

Who is this relief available for?

SBRR is available for eligible businesses who occupy either:

• One property in England with a rateable value of less than £15,000
  
• One main property in England together with one or more additional properties, where the additional properties each have a rateable value of less than £2,900, and the combined rateable value of all the properties is less than £20,000
  

How much relief is available?

The amount of relief awarded depends on the rateable value of the property as follows:

• Rateable value of £12,000 or less – 100%
  
• Rateable value of between £12,001 and £15,000 – the 100% relief is reduced on a sliding scale which is approximately 1% for every £30 increase in RV over £12,000
  
• Rateable value of between £15,001 and £50,999 – the liability is calculated using the lower small business multiplier
  

The following should be noted:

• You can only claim SBRR on one property
  
• You can't claim for unoccupied properties
  

You can't claim SBRR where you are already in receipt of a mandatory rate relief.

How to apply for small business rate relief

To award SBRR, we must be satisfied that the ratepayer meets the qualifying criteria. For further details you should contact the Business Rates team.