The Valuation Office Agency has now updated the rateable values of all commercial, industrial and other non-domestic property in England and Wales, and these new 2026 rateable values come into force on 1 April 2026. The local council uses rateable values to calculate business rates bills. A rateable value is not the same as what you pay in business rates.
Rate payers have the ability to challenge the 2023 List rateable value for their property up to 31 March 2026. After this date, scope to take action is limited. Rate payers may only challenge the 2026 rateable value for their property after 1 April 2026.
The Antecedent Valuation Date (AVD) for the 2026 Rating Revaluation for properties in England and Wales is 1 April 2024.
Changes to the Uniform Business Rate
With effect from 1 April 2026, there will be five different multipliers for properties in England which can be summarized as follows:-
High Value - All properties with a Rateable Value of £500,000 or more – 50.8p
Standard (national) – 48.0p
Small Business (national) – 43.2p
Standard (qualifying retail, hospitality & leisure properties with an RV of £51,000 to £499,999) – 43.0p
Small Business (qualifying retail, hospitality & leisure properties with an RV of less than £51,000) – 38.2p
For one year (for the 2026/27 rate year) a 1p supplement will be applied to the relevant tax rate for those rate payers with properties which do not receive any transitional relief or supporting small business rates relief.
The UBR figures are due to be adjusted in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with effect from 1 April 2027 (for the 2027/28 rate year).
Transitional Relief
There will be no downward transitional phasing ie any ratepayers with lower rates bills from 1 April 2026 due to RV and UBR reductions will get the benefit of those lower liabilities immediately, with no cap or limit.
A new upwards transitional scheme is to be introduced with effect from 1 April 2026 limiting increases in rates bills as follows:
Small – RVs up to £20,000
2026/27 – cap of 5%
2027/28 – cap of 10% plus inflation
2028/29 – cap of 25% plus inflation
Medium – RVs £20,001 to £100,000
2026/27 – cap of 15%
2027/28 – cap of 25% plus inflation
2028/29 – cap of 40% plus inflation
Large – RVs of over £100,000
2026/27 – cap of 30%
2027/28 – cap of 25% plus inflation
2028/29 – cap of 25% plus inflation
Supporting Small Business
Rate payers who have been eligible for Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) with a 2023 List rateable value below £15,000, but now have a 2026 rateable value of over £15,000 thereby losing SBRR, have the benefit of a capped increase to their new rates bill from 1 April 2026 to the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief percentage.
Rate payers with properties losing Retail Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) rate relief will have a cap applied to year on year rate bills at the higher of £800 or the transitional relief cap for a property of their value. The cap adopts the base liability which reflects the 40% RHL rate relief applied to the 2025/26 rate bill.
An additional 2 years of SBRR is to be applied for qualifying businesses expanding into a second property, enabling relief to be maintained on the main property.
For those rate payers losing some or all Rural Rate Relief, any annual bill increases will be capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief percentage.
Queries on Rating Assessments or Rates Liabilities
Carigiet Cowen would be happy to help with any queries on non-domestic rating matters. Iain Henderson is the Director responsible for providing advice in this sector and can be contacted on:-
Tel: 01228 635005
Mobile: 07917 731 712
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