Small Business Rate Relief is based on the rateable value (RV) of your property. It is designed to help small businesses that are not entitled to another mandatory business rates relief.
Who can get Small Business Rate Relief?
You may qualify if:
- Your business occupies only one property in England, and
- The rateable value is less than £15,000
You may still qualify if you have more than one property, as long as:
- Any additional properties each have an RV of £2,899 or less, and
- The total RV of all of your properties is under £20,000 (£28,000 in London).
If you qualify while occupying more than one property, the relief is applied only to your main property.
How much relief can you get?
Properties with an RV:
- Up to £12,000 - 100% relief
- £12,001 to £14,999 - tapered relief, reducing gradually from 100% to 0%
- Up to £51,000 - The small business multiplier is used to calculate your bill
|
Rateable Value (RV) of property |
Amount of small business rate relief |
|---|---|
|
Up to £12,000 (£5,999 prior to 1 April 2017) |
100% relief |
|
£12,001 to £14,999 (£6,000 to £11,999 prior to 1 April 2017) |
Tapered relief, reducing gradually from 100% to 0%; 1% for every £30 of rateable value. Relief reducing on a sliding scale of 2% per £120 rateable value and a lower multiplier of 48.4p prior to 1 April 2017 |
|
Up to £51,000 (£12,000 to £17,999 prior to 1 April 2017) |
Relief is awarded using either the Small Business Multiplier or RHL Multiplier from 1 April 2026 |
If you use more than one property
When you get a second property, you’ll keep getting any existing relief on your main property for 3 years.
You can still get small business rate relief on your main property after this if both of the following apply:
- none of your other properties have a rateable value above £2,899
- the total rateable value of all your properties is less than £20,000 (£28,000 in London)
Before 27 November 2025, when a business took on a second property, Small Business Rate Relief on the main property was only awarded for 12 months. After that 12-month period, the business would only continue to receive SBRR if it still met the eligibility rules (for example, additional properties each having an RV below £2,899 and the total RV remaining below £20,000/ £28,000 in London).
From 27 November 2025 onwards, the rule changed so that the existing relief on the main property is protected for 3 years instead of 12 months when a second property is occupied.
You must tell us if anything changes
If you take on any additional property or your circumstances change, you must tell us straight away. Not reporting changes could mean you pay the wrong amount or receive a backdated bill.