Rates discounts and exemptions

You can get Small Business Rate Relief if the rateable value of your property is below £15,000 and meets either of the below criteria:

• it is your only business property
• it is your main business property, but you also have other business properties each with rateable values under £2,900 and the total rateable value of all properties is less than £20,000.

The main property receives the discount.

Businesses will keep their small business rate relief on their first property for three years after they take on a second property.

Small Business Rate Relief is on a sliding scale:

• properties with a rateable value of up to £12,000 get 100% relief
• properties with a rateable value between £12,001 and £15,000 relief goes down gradually from 100% at £12,001 to 0% at £15,000

To apply

You'll need your:

• full business address including postcode
• 10-digit business rate account number (starting with 88)

Apply for Small Business Rates Relief

Change of circumstances

You must tell us of the following changes if:

• you occupy an extra business property
• the rateable value of any of your property changes

Tell us of a change of circumstances

Even if you are not eligible for Small Business Rate Relief, we will calculate your bill using the lower small business multiplier rather than the standard multiplier if both the below apply:

• the rateable value of the property is less than £51,000
• no other relief or unoccupied rates apply

If the property is empty, an exemption of 100% will be given for 3 months from the first day the premises is emptied (or 6 months where the property is industrial or a warehouse).

If the property is an empty new build, there is an 18-month rate free relief period.

After this most businesses must pay full business rates unless:

• a charity owns the property and the next use will be mostly for charitable purposes
• a community amateur sports club owns the property and the next use is likely to be for the club
• the rateable value is less than £2,900 (since 1 April 2017)
• the law prohibits the owner from occupying the property
• the property is a listed building
• the property is an Ancient Monument
• a deceased person's estate is the owner
• if the following insolvency or debt administration situation exists:
  • a bankruptcy order is issued
  • the owner is a trustee under a deed of arrangement
  • the owner is a company subject to a winding up order
  • the owner is a company in administration

Empty property rates are worked out using the non RHL multiplier, regardless of the nature of the business when occupied. 

To apply

You can apply by email.

You'll need to send us:

• your 10-digit business rate account number (starting with 88)
• the full property address, including postcode
• the date the property became empty

Apply for empty property relief

If you use your property either wholly or mainly for charitable purposes, you will get an 80% discount.

We can also apply a discount if not-for-profit organisations use it.

Please see our Discretionary Rate Relief Policy [pdf] 441KB

To apply

Complete the Mandatory and Discretionary Rate Relief application form.

If you are a ratepayer in difficulty, we may be able to help. You may be able to apply for a discretionary hardship rate relief.

You might be able to get this relief if your business is suffering hardship and all the following apply:

• the circumstances leading to the hardship are both beyond the control of the business and outside of the normal risks associated with running a business
• the difficulties are temporary and the business has a good chance of being viable in the long term
• the business might fail if we do not give hardship relief

You must be able to show you are taking steps to help yourself overcome the problems you are facing.

You cannot get hardship relief to help set up a new business unless the viability of the business is threatened by events you could not reasonably have foreseen.

If we decide to give a discount you could get up to 100% off your bill

To apply

You can apply by email.

You'll need to send us the following information:

• the address/es relating to the application
• a detailed explanation of why you are asking for rate relief
• 3 years of audited accounts
• a statement explaining why payment of business rates would cause hardship
• a statement detailing what solutions you have explored to increase profitability and to reduce outgoings
• a note on how many employees you have
• a list of any other local businesses you deal with, together with reasons
• any other relevant information

Apply for hardship rate discount

What happens next

We'll look at your application, considering what you tell us about the situation and the efforts you are making to help yourself. As hardship relief is a discretionary relief, we also must consider whether giving you relief is the right use of council taxpayers' money.

We look at what is reasonable financially and at whether the loss of the business would harm the local community.

We are more likely to give hardship relief in situations where:

• there will be job losses if we do not
• a business supplies the only goods or services of a specific type in the local area
• the business supplies specialist goods or services that are not widely available

Once we have made our decision, we will send you a new bill or let you know why you cannot get a discount.

We try to make decisions within 4 weeks of getting all the information.

If you disagree with our decision, you can appeal by emailing us.

Hardship rate relief does not renew but you can reapply each year.

You could get rural rate relief if your business is in a rural area with a population below 3,000.

You will not pay business rates if your business is in an eligible area and is either of the below:

• the only village shop or post office with a rateable value of up to £8,500
• the only public house or petrol filling station with a rateable value of up to £12,500

To apply

You can apply by email.

Please include the following in your email to us:

• 10-digit business rate account number (starting with 88)
• full address including postcode

Apply for help for rural areas

You must pay the full rates even if your property is only partly occupied.

We can give a discretionary temporary discount if you are using only part of your property and the unused part will only be for a short time.

The relief for the unoccupied area would apply for 3 months (or 6 months if it is an industrial property). It would stop at the end of a rating year.

We apply the discount if the partial occupation is temporary and typical reasons are:

• the business is moving into a property gradually over a period of months
• the business is moving out of a property gradually, over a period of months
• the business has moved temporarily and parts of the premises are unoccupied
• the property has sustained damage and some parts are unusable

To apply

You can apply by email.

You'll need to include the following information in your email:

• 10-digit business rate account number (starting with 88)
• full address including postcode
• a detailed plan showing the occupied/unoccupied areas including measurements
• date part occupation starts
• reasons for part occupation
• plans for unoccupied part
• date part occupation ends

Apply for partly occupied property relief

Before considering an application, an inspector will visit the property.

The Supporting Small Business (SSB) scheme for 2026-27 is designed to help ratepayers who experience a sharp increase in their business rates bill because they have lost Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) or RHL Relief because of the 2026 revaluation. 

When properties are revalued from 1 April 2026, some businesses that previously qualified for SBRR or the temporary RHL relief will lose that entitlement entirely. Without support, this could lead to a sudden and steep rise in their rates bill. 

The SSB scheme limits how much a bill can increase each year, protecting them from a jump in costs. 

How it works

Eligible businesses will have annual increases capped, ensuring their new bill rises gradually instead of immediately reflecting the full post revaluation amount. 

The scheme operates alongside the new multipliers and transitional arrangements introduced from April 2026. 

For more information on the 2026 scheme: Business rates relief: Supporting small business relief - GOV.UK 

Qualifying businesses will be eligible for 40% rate relief off their business rates bills for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 up to a maximum award of £110,000 per business. This relief ends on 31.03.2026. 

This is to be replaced with the new Retail, Hospitality & Leisure (RHL) multipliers.

If you make certain improvements to your property, you may get relief from higher business rates bills. You do not need to apply for improvement relief or do anything differently. If you meet the necessary requirements, we will apply the relief to your bills. You can find out more about which improvements are eligible by going to GOV.UK and searching ‘business rates reliefs.’ If you have questions about a certificate of qualifying works, please contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) at the email address on your certificate. The VOA cannot answer queries about the occupation condition or your business rates bill.

What is improvement relief?

• Improvement relief supports businesses who have invested in their property.  
• It provides relief from higher business rates bills, where the increase in your bill was due to making certain improvements to your property.
• The relief lasts for 12 months from when the improvement works were completed.

Who is eligible for improvement relief? 

• We will apply the relief to your bills if you are eligible.  You do not need to apply.     
• To be eligible for improvement relief, you must have qualifying improvement works, and meet the occupation condition.  

How does improvement relief work? 

• You will receive a certificate from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) if you have qualifying works.  The VOA will give the same information to us.
• We will apply the relief and send you a revised bill if we are satisfied that you meet the occupation requirements. This means that you have occupied the property during and after the improvement works.

I have received a certificate from the VOA – what does this mean?

• If you have received a certificate of qualifying works from the VOA, this means that you may be eligible for improvement relief.
• Improvement relief provides relief from higher business rates bills, where the increase in your bill was due to making certain improvements to your property. 
• The VOA will send this information to your local council. 
• We will apply the relief to your business rates bill if you also meet the occupation condition.

I think my certificate for improvement relief is wrong. Who should I contact? 

• The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) values qualifying works and issues certificates to ratepayers.
•  There is no right of appeal against the certified values, however, you should let the VOA know if you think there is something wrong with your certificate.
• You can contact the VOA using the email address on your letter.

Where can I find out more information about improvement relief?

To find out more about improvement relief  Business rates relief: Types of business rates relief - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The government has announced a new business rates relief for occupied pubs and live music venues. This relief will be applied as part of the annual billing process for the 2026/27 financial year, alongside other mandatory updates such as the revised business rates multipliers and the latest revaluation.

Eligibility - pubs

To qualify, a property must meet all of the following characteristics:

• be open to the general public
• have free entry (except when occasional entertainment is provided)
• drinking is allowed without food being required
• drinks can be purchased at a bar

The following are not counted as pubs for the purpose of this relief:

• restaurants, cafés, nightclubs, snack bars, hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses, sporting venues, festival sites, theatres, cinemas, museums, exhibition halls and casinos.

Local authorities may use discretion where eligibility is unclear, considering whether the premises meet the natural meaning of a pub (for example, being brewery‑owned or operated).

Eligibility - live music venues

To qualify, a property must be:

• wholly or mainly used for live music performance for an audience

Other uses must be incidental/ancillary (e.g., food or drink for the audience) or infrequent (e.g., polling station or occasional community events)

Properties mainly used as nightclubs or theatres do not qualify.

Where needed, further clarification can be drawn from Chapter 16 of the statutory guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.

What happens next

We will assess eligibility and apply the relief automatically when issuing annual business rates bills for 2026/27, factoring it in alongside all other national business rates changes.

If you believe you have been incorrectly awarded this relief, or believe we have not included you then please contact us at revenues.benefits@arun.gov.uk