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Apply for small business discount

When you register for Business Rates, we will consider your eligibility for small business rate relief automatically.

We will contact you if we need more information to check that you qualify for the discount. If you believe you are eligible but have not been awarded the discount, you can submit an application to us.

If eligible, small business rate relief discount can be backdated to April 2012. If you believe you should be awarded a reduction before April 2012, please get in touch with us.

Small business discount eligibility

You will be eligible for small business rate relief if your property:

  • is occupied, and
  • has a rateable value of less than £15,000.

The amount of discount you'll receive will depend on the rateable value of your property. Your rateable value is shown on your Business Rates bill or you can check your rateable value on GOV.UK.

Thresholds for small business rates relief
Rateable value before April 2017 Rateable value after April 2017 Amount of small business rates relief
£6,000 or less £12,000 or less 100 percent
£6,001 to £12,000 £12,001 to £15,000 Between 100 percent and 0 percent on a sliding scale. The larger the rateable value, the smaller the amount of relief

Small businesses with multiple properties

If you have more than one business property, you may not be eligible for small business rate relief. If you have more than one business property, this discount is only available if:

  • the rateable value for each of the other properties is below £2,900, and
  • the total of all the rateable values is less than £20,000.

If the above applies to your business properties, you'll be eligible for small business rates relief on the property with the highest rateable value.

If you take on a new property which exceeds the threshold, you will still be entitled to small business rates relief for 12 months.

 Change of small business circumstances

Any small business that pays Business Rates or receives a small business discount, you should let us know if:

  • you change address
  • your property becomes unoccupied
  • you take up occupation of another property
  • there is an increase in the rateable value of a property which you occupy in another council's area.

Supporting small businesses scheme

Businesses who lost small business rate relief, because their rateable value increased following the 2023 revaluation, will not see their 2023-24 bill increase by more than £50 a month (£600 a year).

The discount is applied automatically to your business rates bill.