Business rates reductions and relief

Business rates review

We have a duty to maintain accurate records to ensure business rates are being correctly levied on all properties that fall within the local government qualifying criteria.

Liberata will be performing a Business Rates review on behalf of Lewisham Council. An inspector may visit your property and show the inspection authorisation letter and carry a photo identification card. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to complete the review with the inspector. Liberata’s contact details are shown on the inspection letter.

Pubs and live music venues relief

The government announced on 27 January 2026, that in 2026-27, eligible pubs and live music venues will benefit from a 15% business rates 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 conditions:

• be open to the general public
• allow free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided
• allow drinking without requiring food to be consumed
• allow drinks to be purchased at a bar

Businesses that are specifically excluded are:

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

Read more about pubs and live music venues relief. 

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.

Business improvement relief 2024

From 1 April 2024, improvement relief will support businesses wishing to invest in their property. It provides relief from higher Business Rates bills as a result of qualifying improvements to a property they occupy. The relief will apply to works completed by 31 March 2028 and will lasts for 12 months from the date in which the improvement works were completed. 

You do not need to apply for improvement relief or do anything differently. The relief will be applied to your bills if you are eligible. 

To be eligible for improvement relief, you must have: 

• increased the size of, or improved the physical state of an existing property
• occupied the property every day since the improvement works started

Any improvements to existing features or equipment do not qualify.

You can report changes to your property by visiting business rates valuation on GOV.UK.

You will receive a certificate from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) if you have qualifying works. The VOA will give the same information to your local council. 

Once your local council has confirmed you were occupying the property for the duration of the improvements, they will:

• decide how much improvement relief you are entitled to
• send you a reduced rates bill

If you have questions about a certificate of qualifying works, please contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) at the email address on your certificate. 

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. 

Find out more about improvement relief.

Film studios business rates relief

At the Budget on 6 March, the Chancellor announced that eligible film studios in England will receive a 40% reduction on gross business rates bills until 2034. The relief once implemented will be backdated to 1 April 2024. This is a tax cut worth around £470 million over 10 years.

Film studio rate relief is available for a chargeable day in the financial years 2024/25 to 2033/34 for a hereditament which for the chargeable day is:

a. Used (or if unused appears that when next in use would be used) for the production of films or television programmes and in whole or in part comprises sound stages or film sets, and

b. Valued by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) as a studio falling within one of the following VOA’s valuation categories for film studios:

• temporary or semi-permanent filming studios
• older filming studios, whether converted or purpose built
• modern industrial conversion filming studios (typically converted to film studios post 2010)
• modern purpose-built filming studios (typically built post 2010)
• campus sites

Further information about Film studio relief may be obtained from the gov.uk website.

Transitional relief

Property values normally change a good deal between each revaluation. Transitional arrangements help to phase in the effects of these changes by limiting increases in bills. To help pay for the limits on increases in bills, there also have to be limits on reductions in bills.

Under the transition scheme, limits continue to apply to yearly increases and decreases until the full amount is due (rateable value times the appropriate multiplier). The scheme applies only to the bill based on a property at the time of the revaluation.

If there are any changes to the property after a revaluation, transitional arrangements will not normally apply to the part of a bill that relates to any increase in rateable value due to those changes. Any transitional adjustments are shown on the front of your bill.

Empty property exemption for unoccupied business premises

Following three or six month exemption from paying business rates on an unoccupied business premises, most owners or tenants will be liable to pay the full 100% of the business rates.

The following paragraphs explain the entitlement to unoccupied exemptions from payment of business rates. Please be aware that we carry out routine inspections of unoccupied premises.

Please note: you are not entitled to withhold payment of rates pending a decision regarding liability.

Partly occupied property relief

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 discretion to award relief in respect of the unoccupied part.

Mandatory relief

Mandatory relief is given to charities/friendly societies or the trustees of a charity, Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) or organisations which are specifically exempted from registration with the Charity Commission, where the property is being wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes. In these cases the business rates will be reduced by 80%.

Discretionary relief

Section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 empowers us to award certain businesses and organisations relief from rates. This relief can be awarded in addition to any mandatory relief to a body qualifying under Section 45.

There is a limited budget for discretionary rate relief and so it is necessary for us to restrict eligibility to certain organisations. Only organisations eligible for mandatory relief (80% relief funded by central government), can be awarded discretionary rate relief.

Those not eligible include: charity shops and cafés, housing associations, buildings used mainly for worship and bodies operating a restrictive membership policy. Different arrangements are in place for schools and museums.  

Hardship relief

This discretionary relief can be granted by us if you are experiencing hardship and your business is considered to be important to the local community.

Small business rate relief

Ratepayers who occupy a property with a rateable value which does not exceed £50,999 (and who are not entitled to other mandatory relief or are liable for unoccupied property rates) will have their bills calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier, rather than the national non-domestic rating multiplier.

In addition, generally, if the sole or main property is shown on the rating list with a rateable value which does not exceed £15,000, the ratepayer will receive a percentage reduction in their rates bill for this property of up to a maximum of 100%. For a property with a rateable value of no more than £12,000, the ratepayer will receive a 100% reduction in their rates bill.

Generally, this percentage reduction is only available to ratepayers who occupy either: 

• one property
• one main property and other additional properties – providing those additional properties each have a rateable value which does not exceed £2,899

The rateable value of the property, or the combined rateable value of all the properties, must not exceed £19,999 outside London or £27,999 in London on each day for which the reduction is being sought. If the rateable value increases above those levels, relief will cease from the day of the increase.

The Government has introduced additional support to small businesses. 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 the relief for a period of 12 months.

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure multipliers 2026/27

From 1 April 2026, the existing relief for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) businesses has been replaced by lower multipliers. 

The multiplier used to calculate your bill is decided by your business type and the rateable value of your property:

To qualify for the RHL multiplier:

• you must occupy the property
• the property must have a rateable value of less than £500,000
• the property must be wholly or mainly used for a retail, hospitality or leisure purpose available to visiting members of the public

Read more about the RHL multiplier.

Where we have already been able to confirm that the use of the property meets the criteria, your 2026/27 bill will have been calculated using an RHL multiplier. 

Business rates review

We have a duty to maintain accurate records to ensure business rates are being correctly levied on all properties that fall within the local government qualifying criteria.

Liberata will be performing a Business Rates review on behalf of Lewisham Council. An inspector may visit your property and show the inspection authorisation letter and carry a photo identification card. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to complete the review with the inspector. Liberata’s contact details are shown on the inspection letter.

Pubs and live music venues relief

The government announced on 27 January 2026, that in 2026-27, eligible pubs and live music venues will benefit from a 15% business rates 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 conditions:

• be open to the general public
• allow free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided
• allow drinking without requiring food to be consumed
• allow drinks to be purchased at a bar

Businesses that are specifically excluded are:

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

Read more about pubs and live music venues relief. 

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.

Business improvement relief 2024

From 1 April 2024, improvement relief will support businesses wishing to invest in their property. It provides relief from higher Business Rates bills as a result of qualifying improvements to a property they occupy. The relief will apply to works completed by 31 March 2028 and will lasts for 12 months from the date in which the improvement works were completed. 

You do not need to apply for improvement relief or do anything differently. The relief will be applied to your bills if you are eligible. 

To be eligible for improvement relief, you must have: 

• increased the size of, or improved the physical state of an existing property
• occupied the property every day since the improvement works started

Any improvements to existing features or equipment do not qualify.

You can report changes to your property by visiting business rates valuation on GOV.UK.

You will receive a certificate from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) if you have qualifying works. The VOA will give the same information to your local council. 

Once your local council has confirmed you were occupying the property for the duration of the improvements, they will:

• decide how much improvement relief you are entitled to
• send you a reduced rates bill

If you have questions about a certificate of qualifying works, please contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) at the email address on your certificate. 

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. 

Find out more about improvement relief.

Film studios business rates relief

At the Budget on 6 March, the Chancellor announced that eligible film studios in England will receive a 40% reduction on gross business rates bills until 2034. The relief once implemented will be backdated to 1 April 2024. This is a tax cut worth around £470 million over 10 years.

Film studio rate relief is available for a chargeable day in the financial years 2024/25 to 2033/34 for a hereditament which for the chargeable day is:

a. Used (or if unused appears that when next in use would be used) for the production of films or television programmes and in whole or in part comprises sound stages or film sets, and

b. Valued by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) as a studio falling within one of the following VOA’s valuation categories for film studios:

• temporary or semi-permanent filming studios
• older filming studios, whether converted or purpose built
• modern industrial conversion filming studios (typically converted to film studios post 2010)
• modern purpose-built filming studios (typically built post 2010)
• campus sites

Further information about Film studio relief may be obtained from the gov.uk website.

Transitional relief

Property values normally change a good deal between each revaluation. Transitional arrangements help to phase in the effects of these changes by limiting increases in bills. To help pay for the limits on increases in bills, there also have to be limits on reductions in bills.

Under the transition scheme, limits continue to apply to yearly increases and decreases until the full amount is due (rateable value times the appropriate multiplier). The scheme applies only to the bill based on a property at the time of the revaluation.

If there are any changes to the property after a revaluation, transitional arrangements will not normally apply to the part of a bill that relates to any increase in rateable value due to those changes. Any transitional adjustments are shown on the front of your bill.

Documents

Please refer to the documents below for full details of eligibility before completing and submitting your application.