Small Business Rates Relief

Businesses may qualify for Small Business Rates Relief if they:

  • occupy only one property in England and have a rateable value of less than £15,000
  • occupy one main property and other additional properties, providing the additional properties do not have individual rateable values of more than £2,899 and the combined rateable value of all the properties is under £20,000
  • qualify for small business rate relief when they occupy more than one property, can only be granted relief on the main property

The amount of relief available is on a sliding scale.

Download the Small Business Rates Relief for 2024/2025

From 1 April 2017, Small Business Rates Relief doubled and the thresholds increased to benefit a greater number of businesses.

Properties with a rateable value of up to £12,000 will receive 100 per cent relief.

Properties with a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000 will receive tapered relief and relief will gradually reduce from 100 per cent at £12,000 to 0 per cent at £15,000.
 

Discretionary Rate Relief

Introduction

Section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 gives Councils the power to grant rate relief to organisations that meet certain criteria.

Councils have discretion to grant rate relief from all or part of the amount of non-domestic rates payable and any relief granted is used to reduce the amount the organisation is required to pay in business rates.

The Council recognises the valuable role that voluntary organisations can and do play in the life of the community. It is committed to providing high quality services to Rugby residents and acknowledges the way voluntary groups can complement these services.

The following sections set out the factors we will consider when deciding whether to grant relief, and the way in which we will decide the value of any relief granted.

We will deal with each application for relief on its merits and treat all organisations that apply equally and fairly.

Criteria

The criteria to be used in deciding whether to give discretionary rate relief are designed to assess how an organisation’s work helps achieve the Council’s priorities and meet the community’s need for services and facilities.

The Council will consider applications for relief where the following key criteria are met:

  • the ratepayer is a non-profit making body;
  • the property is used by the ratepayer wholly or mainly for charitable, philanthropic or religious purposes, or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts; or
  • the ratepayer uses the property wholly or mainly for recreation by a non-profit making club or society.
  • The ratepayer occupies the property wholly or mainly to provide services that would otherwise have to be provided by the local authority.

Registered charities in receipt of mandatory relief of 80% can apply for discretionary relief on the remaining 20% of their bill.

Other organisations that meet these criteria, such as voluntary organisations and not-for-profit sports clubs, can apply for relief of up to 100%.

The Council will not normally consider applications from organisations in the following categories;

  • National Chairty Shops
  • Organisations whose objectives are wholly or mainly concerned with education and which are already receiving Mandatory relief (80%)
  • Administrative offices of national charitable organisations which are already in receipt of Mandatory relief (80%)
  • Organisations which have a commercially operative bar within the relevant property serving alcohol.
  • Organisations that have an audited income of more than £1 million per annum.

The following additional criteria will also be applied where applicable:

Equal opportunities - The organisation should have an appropriate policy that aims to give equal opportunities to both any employees it has and to people in the community it services. A copy of a formal policy should be submitted with the discretionary relief application. If a written policy is not available, evidence must be provided that the organisation does not unfairly discriminate against any section of the community.

Open access to membership - Membership should be open to all sections of the community. There may be some restrictions placed on ability in sport if this is appropriate, however, in general membership should not be exclusive or restrictive.

Membership fees – These must not be set at such a level as to exclude the general community. The Council would expect applicants to state their current membership rates, and to illustrate that the criteria used to consider applications for membership is consistent with the principle of open access.

Applications will be dealt with more sympathetically if an organisation can demonstrate it actively encourages membership from, or offers support to, particular groups in the community such as young people, women, older people, persons with a disability or ethnic minorities.

Beneficiaries of services or facilities - The organisation should provide training or education to its members, and non-members such as young people, people with disabilities, or retired people. The organisation should provide facilities that indirectly relieve the Council of the need to do so or enhance and supplement those it does provide.

Affiliation to local or national organisations - The organisation should be actively involved in local/national development of their interests.

Financial support from external sources - Copies of the organisation’s last two years’ audited accounts must be provided with the application to assist the Council in assessing the ability of the applicant to meet the costs of rates in the absence of additional rate relief. It should be made clear on the application form the level of funding given to the organisation by the Council and or any other external bodies

Amount of relief

As noted above, the Council has the discretion to allow relief at any rate up to 100% of the business rates charge, less any mandatory relief an organisation is entitled to.

Entitlement will be assessed against the criteria and factors described above.

Period of award

The Council will decide the period that relief will be awarded for depending on the circumstances of the application. The minimum period of relief that can be awarded is one day.

Unless stated otherwise, relief will be awarded from the start of the current financial year or the date liability started, whichever is later. The Council will periodically review the relief and invite renewal applications.

If after review, the relief is no longer applicable and to be cancelled, the Council will write to you to notify you. The relief can be cancelled back to the date it was no longer applicable, but will not be cancelled earlier than the start of the previous financial year.

Relief may be backdated to the beginning of the current financial year

How to apply

A claim must be made on an approved application form which is available on rugby.gov.uk/business-rates or on request.

It is the responsibility of the organisation applying for relief to provide sufficient information and documentary evidence to support its application.

Completed applications, including all necessary supporting documentation, should be sent to:

Rugby Borough Council, Town Hall, Rugby CV21 2RR

Subsidy Control

Please note that any award of discretionary rate relief must comply with the UKs Subsidy Control Act 2022 (replacing EU state aid)

Financial aid is allowed under the de minimis rules if the total amount of funding received by an organisation does not cumulatively exceed £315,000 over a three-year period.

Any assistance you have received, or are due to receive, from a public body may count as de minimis. This could be any aid, grant or support from central, regional or devolved governments, agencies, or a local authority.

Right of appeal

If you disagree with a decision made under this policy, you may write and tell us why you think our decision is wrong. If you are able to provide further information to address the reasons given as to why your application was unsuccessful, you may do so and we will reconsider our decision in the light of the new information.

If the Council’s decision is still not to award relief, you may ask for a full review. The Chief Officer for Finance and Performance, who is not involved in the original decision, will check your application and supporting evidence thoroughly, taking into account any further information given in your appeal letter, then decide whether the policy have been properly applied in your case.

The Chief Officer has the authority to

  • confirm the decision;
  • change the decision and award you more discretionary rate relief; or
  • change the decision and award you less discretionary rate relief.

The Council will write to tell you what has happened, normally within 7 days of the decision.

There is no further right of appeal against a decision made.

Relief for empty properties

Business rates do not apply for the first three months that a property is empty. For certain industrial properties, this period is extended to six months.

After this period, rates must be paid in full unless the unoccupied property rate has been reduced by order of the government.

In most cases, the unoccupied property rate is zero for properties owned by charities and community amateur sports clubs.

If the empty property rate for the financial year has been reduced by order, it will be shown on the front of your bill.

Partly empty properties

A ratepayer is liable for the full non-domestic rate whether a property is wholly occupied or only partly occupied.

Where a property is partly occupied for a short time, we have the discretion to award relief in respect of the unoccupied part.

Rural rate relief

You could get rural rate relief if your business is in an eligible rural area with a population below 3,000. Your business must also be:

  • The only village general store, food shop or post office, with a rateable value of up to £8,500.
  • The only public house or petrol station, with a rateable value of up to £12,500.

If there's more than one business in the area, both businesses can still apply if they are different types of businesses - for example, a public house and a food shop.

The property must be occupied.

What you'll get

You will not pay business rates if your business is eligible for rural rate relief.

How to get rural rate relief 

Local councils manage business rates relief in their area.

Contact your local council to:

  • Check if you're in an eligible rural area - the council will have a list of eligible areas and maps of those areas
  • Check if your type of business is eligible for rural rate relief
  • Find out how to get rural rate relief 

If your circumstances change

Report changes to make sure you're paying the right amount and do not get a backdated increase in your bill or overpay.

Contact your local council if:

  • Your property becomes empty
  • You get another property
  • You make any changes to your property that would increase its value - for example, extending or renovating it
  • The nature of your business changes or it move to different premises

If you stop being eligible for rural rate relief, you'll usually need to pay your business rates bill starting from the day your circumstances changed.

Hardship relief

Relief is available to occupiers of business premises who are suffering hardship. Hardship is not defined, but is not confined to financial hardship.

If you think you may qualify for hardship relief please contact us.

Improvement relief

If you invest in certain improvements to your property, you may qualify for relief from higher business rates bills.

You do not need to apply for improvement relief. If you're eligible, you receive the relief for one year from the date you complete the improvements to your property. The council applies the relief to your bill.

Improvements must:

  • increase the rateable value of your property
  • be completed on or after 1 April 2024

The improvements must also:

  • increase the size of your property
  • add new features or equipment to your property, such as heating, air conditioning or CCTV 

Improvements to existing features or equipment do not apply. You must have occupied the property during and after the improvement works to be eligible for the relief. The relief cannot be passed on to anybody else.

How you receive improvement relief

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) decides how much relief you'll receive based on your property's rateable value and the type of improvements you have made.

The VOA automatically identifies eligible properties and sends a certificate to both the owner of the property and the council, stating:

  • the property's new rateable value
  • how much improvement relief you'll receive
  • when the relief ends

Once the council has received your certificate from the VOA and confirmed you meet all eligibility requirements, the relief automatically gets applied to your bill.

Concerned your VOA certificate has incorrect information?

The VOA decides which improvement works qualify for improvement relief and the amount of relief you receive.

While you have no right of appeal, you can contact the VOA about your concerns via the email address on your certificate or via the Government website.