Reliefs
Charitable rate relief
Charities, registered community amateur sports clubs and non-for-profit organisations can get 80% relief. This is where the property is occupied by the charity, club or organisation.
The property must be wholly or mainly used for the charitable purposes of -
- the charity or of that and other charities
- the club or of that and other clubs or organisation
We can award up to 100% relief for a non-domestic property. It must be occupied by an organisation not established or conducted for profit.
Freeport relief
We can give ratepayers Freeport relief of up to 100%, up to a maximum of 5 years from the date they -
- started their business in the freeport or moved there after the freeport was set
- expanded their business in the freeport after the freeport was set up. For example, if you -
- built an extension
- took on new rooms
- bought a new property in the freeport
Public lavatory relief
In 2021, the Non-Domestic Rating Public Lavatories Bill came into force. It gives public lavatories 100% relief from business rates. It applies retrospectively from 1 April 2020.
The relief does not apply to toilets of a larger unit of rateable property. For example, toilets in public libraries. It amends Part 3 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. It is to ensure that, in relation to an eligible property which consists wholly or mainly of a public lavatory, the chargeable amount will be zero. This provides a 100% mandatory relief for eligible public lavatories in England and Wales.
Newspaper relief
Office space that is occupied by local newspapers can receive business rate relief. The relief is of £1,500 for the financial year.
This was due to run for 2 years from 1 April 2017. It has been further extended by the government until 31 March 2025.
Newspaper relief can be claimed up to a maximum of one discount per local newspaper title. It can also be claimed per property and up to Subsidy Allowance.
Partly occupied relief
We can give temporary relief to ratepayers who are only using a part of their property. The rest of the property must be completely unused.
This relief is only available where the unused part will remain so for a short time only. Partly occupied relief is stopped at the end of the rating year. You can ask the valuation officer to split the assessment. This happens where part of your property that is remaining empty for the foreseeable future can be split from the part being used.
A valuation officer may visit your property to see if you are eligible for relief. If we decide that relief can be given, we will ask the valuation officer to issue a certificate. The certificate is to show the rateable values of the occupied and unoccupied parts. We will then send a revised bill.