Small business rate relief

cafes on montpellier

This relief is aimed at helping small business where ratepayers are not entitled to another mandatory relief and occupy a property with a rateable value not exceeding £50,999 (the criteria is detailed below)

The government has announced changes to small business rate relief from April 2017.

Small business rate relief will be permanently doubled from 50 per cent to 100 per cent and the thresholds will increase to benefit a greater number of businesses.

You can get small business rate relief if you:

  • only use one property, and its 2017 rateable value is less than £15,000
  • if your 2017 rateable rateable value is £12,000 or below, small business rate relief will be given at 100 per cent
  • if your 2017 rateable value is between £12,001 and £14,999 inclusive, the small business rate multiplier is used and relief will be given on a sliding scale - from 100 per cent at the bottom of the range to 0 per cent at the top
  • use more than one property, and the 2017 rateable value of each of your other properties is less than £2,900, with the rateable value of all these properties combined being less than £20,000

You can only get small business rate relief on one property.

If your rateable value is between £15,000 and £50,999, the small business rate multiplier is used only (even if you have more than one property).

Apply for small business rate relief

If you take on an additional property

For those businesses that take on an additional property which would normally have meant the loss of small business rate relief, the government has confirmed that they will be allowed to keep that relief for a period of 12 months. If you take on an additional property, inside or outside the district of Cheltenham, you must contact the business rates section immediately. 

If something changes

If something changes that could affect your small business rate relief you must contact the business rates section immediately.