Rate relief and reductions
Contents
Small business rate relief
You can get small business rate relief if you:
- only use one property, and its rateable value is less than £15,000, or
- use more than one property, and the rateable value of each of your other properties is less than £2,900
The rateable values of the properties are added together and the relief applied to the main property. Second properties will receive no additional reduction.
If you get a second property, you’ll keep getting any existing relief on your main property for 36 months. (12 months if responsible for the additional property before 26 November 2025).
Amount you can receive:
- if your rateable value is £12,000 or below, small business rate relief will be given at 100%
- if your rateable value is between £12,001 and £15,000, the small business rate multiplier is used and relief will be given on a sliding scale - from 100% at the bottom of the range to 0% at the top
- if your rateable value is between £15,001 and £51,000, the small business rate relief multiplier is used (even if you have more than one property)
The following table gives examples of how the relief is effected by the rateable value of a property:
| Rateable value | Reduction |
|---|---|
| £12,000 | 100% |
| £12,300 | 90% |
| £12,600 | 80% |
| £12,900 | 70% |
| £13,200 | 60% |
| £13,500 | 50% |
| £13,800 | 40% |
| £14,100 | 30% |
| £14,400 | 20% |
| £14,700 | 10% |
| £15,000 | 0% |
Where applicable, relief can be backdated a maximum of 6 years. The relief cannot be applied to empty properties.
Charitable rate relief
There are two types of charitable rate relief - mandatory and discretionary. You can get up to 80% relief for mandatory and up to 100% relief for discretionary.
You can apply if you meet any of the following:
Mandatory
- a property that is in use by a charity or trustees for a charity and is used for charitable purposes
- amateur community sports clubs can apply for relief if a property is used for charitable purposes
- an empty property where the ratepayer is a charity or trustee for a charity and the property will be used for charitable purposes when next used
Discretionary
- the ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity and the property will mainly be used for charitable purposes in the future
- all or part of the property is in use for charitable purposes for one or more non-profit organisations
- all or part of the property is occupied for the purpose of a non-profit club, society, or other organisation
- the services provided by the registered charity / amateur sports club are directly for the benefit of taxpayers in the borough
Rating exemptions
Some types of land and property won’t have to pay business rates, these are:
- agricultural land and buildings
- fish farms
- places of religious worship
- sewers and properties belonging to drainage companies
- parks
- properties used for disabled people for example training, welfare services, workshops
- air raid protection works
- swinging moorings
- road crossings over a river
- property in enterprise zones
- visiting forces
More information on the definitions of each of the types of properties and land is available on the legislation website.
Rural rate relief
The rural rate relief scheme was introduced to help protect the last retail outlets and similar services in rural settlements with a population of less than 3,000.
Designated rural areas have been defined by the Housing Act 1996 and for this council the following twelve parishes are affected:
- Benenden
- Bidborough
- Brenchley
- Capel
- Cranbrook
- Frittenden
- Goudhurst
- Hawkhurst
- Horsmonden
- Lamberhurst
- Sandhurst
- Speldhurst
The population of the parishes of Cranbrook, Goudhurst, Hawkhurst and Speldhurst exceed the 3,000 qualifying criteria.
Under the scheme, the following businesses in designated rural settlements are entitled to 100% mandatory rate relief:
- the only food shop, general store or post office with a rateable value of less than £8,500
- the only public house or petrol station with a rateable value of up to £12,500
The property must be occupied.
It is possible for both a general store and a Post Office in the same rural area to qualify for mandatory rate relief, if they both meet the conditions.
To qualify for mandatory relief, a general store must mainly sell both food and general household goods. Only part of the property need be used as a general store. For example, the business of a general store and another business could be carried on side-by-side in one premises. If there are two general stores in the same rural area, neither will qualify for mandatory relief, although, if either functions as a Post Office, relief for this can be claimed separately.
The council can also give discretionary relief of up to 100% for a property in a rural area with a rateable value of £16,500 or less, if we are satisfied that:
- the property is used for purposes which are of benefit to the local community; and
- it would be reasonable for the council to award relief, having regard to the interest of the Council Tax payers in the district
Transitional Relief and Supporting Small Business Relief (SSB)
You can get supporting small business relief (SSB26) if both of the following apply:
- your business property’s bill will increase when the next revaluation happens on 1 April 2026
- you’ve lost some or all of your small business rate relief, rural rate relief, retail hospitality and leisure relief or 2023 supporting small business relief
Supporting Small Business Relief 2026 (SSB26) will apply for 3 years or until you bill reaches the full amount set by the revaluation.
If you were in receipt of Supporting Small Business Relief 2023 (SSB23) the SSB26 relief will end after 1 year.
If you’re eligible, your bills will go up by no more than £800 or the percentage caps listed in the table (whichever is greater) for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.
Rateable value | 2026 to 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) | 5% | |
£20,001 (£28,001 in London) to £100,000 | 15% | |
Over £100,000 | 30% |
This is compared to your bill in 2025 to 2026 and includes the following:
- any small business rate relief
- rural rate relief
- retail hospital and leisure relief
- 2023 supporting small business relief
Transitional relief limits how much your bill can change each year as a result of business rates revaluation.
You’ll get transitional relief if your rates go up or down by more than a certain amount. This means changes to your bill are phased in gradually.
How much your bill can change by from one year to the next depends on both:
- your property’s rateable value
- whether your bill is increasing or decreasing as a result of revaluation
You stop getting transitional relief when your bill reaches the full amount set by a revaluation.
If your bill is increasing from 1 April 2026:
Rateable value | 2026 to 2027 | 2027 to 2028 | 2028 to 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) | 5% | 10% plus inflation | 25% plus inflation |
£20,001 (£28,001 in London) to £100,000 | 15% | 25% plus inflation | 40% plus inflation |
Over £100,000 | 30% | 25% plus inflation | 25% plus inflation |
Transitional Relief Supplement – a 1p supplement to the relevant tax rate for ratepayers who do not receive Transitional Relief or the Supporting Small Business scheme to partially fund Transitional Relief. This will apply for one year from 1 April 2026.
For further information can be found at Introduction to business rates on GOV.UK.
We have automatically identified those ratepayers who should receive these reliefs and have applied it to their bill. If you feel that you qualify for these reliefs but it is not showing on your bill, please email us at businessrates@midkent.gov.uk.
Pub & Live Music Venues Relief
In 2026/27, eligible pubs and live music venues will receive 15% relief on top of the support announced at Budget 2025. Their bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further 2 years.
To be eligible, a pub must meet all these characteristics:
- be open to the general public
- allow free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided
- allow drinking without requiring food to be consumed
- permit drinks to be purchased at a bar
For this purpose, the meaning of pub does not include:
- restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, snack bars
- hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses
- sporting venues
- festival sites, theatres, cinemas
- museums, exhibition halls
- casinos
Read more about the relief at the following link: 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027 - GOV.UK (Opens in new tab)
Where we have already been able to confirm that the use of the property meets the criteria, the relief has been applied to your 2026/27 bill.
Other
Empty property
You may be eligible for relief if your property is empty and unfurnished. You can receive 100% relief for the first three months the property is empty and unfurnished. If the property is industrial, for example a warehouse, you will receive the relief for six months. When the 100% relief period has ended you will need to pay the full amount.
If the property is a listed building or has a rateable value which is less than £2,900 you won’t have to pay business rates on an empty property. Once your property is occupied the exemption will stop.
Hardship relief
If you’re having trouble paying your business rates you can apply for hardship relief. This is given at our discretion, is only a short-term relief and will only be given if it is in the interest of the community and taxpayers of the borough.
Part occupied property
You can apply to pay less business rates if only part of your property is occupied. The unoccupied part must only be empty for a short time. We will ask the valuation officer for a certificate advising what the rateable value of the occupied part of your property is and you will only get charged for that part.