Business Rates
Business Rates reliefs and discounts
There are certain circumstances in which full rates may not be payable:
- When a property is empty
- Where the occupier qualifies for small business rate relief
- When the occupier is a charity
- Where the occupier is a community amateur sports club
- Where the occupier is a "not-for-profit" organisation
- Where the property is not fully occupied
Charities
Registered charities which use premises for charitable purposes are generally entitled to 80% relief from rates. This includes charity shops, provided that the goods sold are wholly or mainly donated.
Certain other organisations, such as universities, which are exempt from registration as a charity may also qualify for relief.
If the relevant conditions are met, this relief is mandatory and it must be granted.
Community amateur sports clubs (CASCs)
Sport clubs registered as community amateur sports clubs with the Inland Revenue qualify for 80% relief.
Further details on how to register as a CASC can be found on GOV.UK - Tax relief for community amateur sports clubs or by writing to:
Inland Revenue Charities
Sports Club Unit
St John's House
Bootle
Merseyside
L69 9BB
Relief for non-profit making organisations
Councils may also grant discretionary relief to certain other non-profit making bodies, e.g. sports clubs and community associations.
We have the discretion to 'top-up' any mandatory relief to a maximum 100% relief but as any additional relief is paid for by the council tax payers it will only be granted if the organisation benefits local residents. From 1 April 2012 the council may also grant up to 100% relief to any ratepayer.
Please note any discretionary relief awarded is subject to subsidy control limits. For further guidance please see UK subsidy control regime - GOV.UK
Properties in partial occupation
If a property is temporarily only partly occupied, it is not always possible or necessary to create two separate properties in the rating list. For example, where a company phases its removal from one set of premises to another, or where the use of property is temporarily restricted by flood or fire. In these cases it would be inappropriate to have the rating list amended because the circumstances are not permanent.
We can ask the valuation office to determine the rateable values of the occupied and unoccupied parts.
The rates payable on each part can then be worked out and relief is granted so that the ratepayer only pays the full rates for the occupied part plus the rates for the unoccupied part. If an exemption applies to the unoccupied part, however, then nothing is payable for that part.
This relief is given as laid down in section 44a of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and is subject to subsidy control limits.
The relief is granted either to the end of the financial year or to the date on which the property ceases to be only partly occupied, whichever is the earlier. This relief can only be extended in exceptional circumstances.
Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Scheme Discount
This scheme came to an end with effect from 31 March 2026.
Supporting Small Business Rate Relief
From the 01 April 2026, the Supporting Small Business Rate Relief scheme has been introduced to assist those ratepayers who had lost some or all of their entitlement to Small Business Rate relief or Rural Rate relief as a result of the 2026 revaluation or are facing large increases due to the loss of the Retail Discount, which ceased on 31 March 2026.
The relief limits the increase in charge by either £800 or the relevant caps within transitional relief, whichever is the greater.
The relevant caps are:-
an increase of 5% for those with Rateable values of £20,000 or below;
an increase of 15% for those with Rateable values above £20,000 but below £100,001;
an increase of 30% for those with Rateable values above £100,000.
Please note this increase is calculated from your 2025/26 year's demand, assuming transitional relief did not apply.
The relief will cease on the account should the property become unoccupied or occupied by a charity or community amateur sports club, and will not be reinstated should the property become reoccupied.
This relief amounts to a state subsidy and is subject to the Minimum Financial Assistance thresholds established by the Subsidy Control Act 2022. These thresholds allow you (including any subsidiary companies) to receive up to £315,000 in financial assistance over three years, including the 2026/27 financial year.
If you believe this award has led you to breach these thresholds, then please contact us immediately so your award can be reduced/removed as applicable.
The 2026 scheme is only available for 12 months for those who were in receipt of supporting small business rate relief in the 2025/2026 financial year and will cease with effect from 31 March 2027 for those who were in receipt of the relief.
Pubs and Live Music Venue relief
From 1st April 2026 the government announced that eligible pubs and live music venues in England will receive a 15% reduction on their business rates bills for the 2026/27 financial year. This relief entitles you to a further 15% off your bill for the 2026/27 financial year only after all other non-locally funded relief schemes have been awarded.
The government also announced that eligible pubs and live music venues' business rates bills would be frozen in real terms in 2027/28 and 2028/29 (further information to follow on this when it is released).
Properties that meet the eligibility criteria for pubs and live music venues relief will be occupied properties which meet all of the following conditions:-
They are wholly or mainly being used:
- as a pub
- as a live music venue
Pubs
We consider a pub to mean a property where all of the following criteria apply. A property that:
- is open to the general public
- allows free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided
- allows drinking without requiring food to be consumed
- permits drinks to be purchased at a bar
For these purposes, the meaning of a pub does not include:
- restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, snack bars
- hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses
- sporting venues
- festival sites, theatres, cinemas
- museums, exhibition halls
- casinos
Live music venues
We consider a live music venue to mean a property that:
- Is wholly or mainly used for the performance of live music for the purpose of entertaining an audience
- Can be used for other activities but only if those other activities:
- are ancillary or incidental to the performance of live music (e.g. the sale of food or drink to audience members)
- do not affect the primary use of the premises for the performance of live music (e.g. because the activities are infrequent such as use of the venue as a polling station or fortnightly community event)
Properties are not a live music venue for the purpose of this relief if the property is wholly or mainly used as a nightclub or a theatre, for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended).
There is more information on Business rates reliefs on the Gov.UK website.
For further information about any of the discounts listed, download our Business Rates explanatory notes or contact pendle.nndr@pendle.gov.uk