Business rates information 2026-27

Commercial businesses contribute to local services through paying business rates, also known as non-domestic rates.

Changes to business rates 2026-27

From 1 April 2026, there will be significant changes to how business rate charges are calculated. These changes may affect the amount you pay.

In the last two Autumn Budgets, the Chancellor announced support to businesses in England for 2026-27:

  • additional retail hospitality and leisure (RHL) non-domestic rating (NDR) multipliers
  • additional high-value non-domestic rating multiplier
  • transitional relief and supplement schemes
  • 2026 supporting small business scheme (SSB relief)
  • 2023 supporting small business scheme - one-year extension
  • extending the small business rate relief (SBRR) grace-period from one to three years
  • 100% relief for eligible electric vehicle charging points and electric vehicle only forecourts (EVCP relief)
  • relief for pubs and live music venues

NDR multipliers and qualifying retail hospitality and leisure (RHL) relief

From 1 April 2026, the government will replace RHL relief with two NDR multipliers for properties with rateable values (RV) below 500,000. 

East Hampshire District Council will identify which properties are in receipt of these multipliers in line with government guidance.

New multipliers from 1 April 2026

Category Rateable value (RV) Multiplier
Small business RHL Below £51,000 38.2p
Standard RHL £51,000 – £499,999 43.0p
Large (all properties) £500,000 and above 50.8p
Small business (non-RHL) Below £51,000 43.2p
Standard (Non-RHL) £51,000 – £499,999 48.0p

Transitional relief

To support ratepayers facing large bill increases at the revaluation the government is introducing a redesigned transitional relief scheme worth £3.2 billion.

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.

Supporting small business scheme 2026

Bill increases for businesses losing some or all of their small business rates relief or rural rate relief will be capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief caps from 1 April 2026.

The 2026 SSB relief scheme has been expanded to ratepayers losing their RHL relief. The government has also announced a one-year extension of the 2023 supporting small business scheme from 1 April 2026. This support is applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.

Extending the small business rates relief (SBRR) grace-period from one to three years

Businesses will now keep their small business rates relief on their first property for three years after they take on a second property, instead of just one year

100% relief for eligible electric vehicle charging points and electric vehicle only forecourts (EVCP relief)

A ten-year 100% business rates relief for EVCPs separately assessed by the VOA and electric vehicle only forecourts to ensure that they face no business rates liability.

Business rates relief for pubs and live music venues - 2026/27

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.

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  - You do not need to apply for this relief.  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.

Paying your business rates

There are also other ways you can pay your business rates, including direct debit, online payments or by post

You will receive an annual bill for every property you are liable for, the bill is assumed to be payable in monthly instalments. The number of monthly instalments will be 10 however you can request this is changed to 12.

If for any reason you are unable to pay your business rates, please let us know as soon as possible

How are business rates calculated? 

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) values all business properties for business rates. The valuation is based on information the VOA holds about your property.

You can view and update this information on the GOV.UK website or if you are unable to use the online service, you can also contact the VOA on 03000 501 501.

We work out your business rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of the property by  the appropriate multiplier. 

Business rates are charged on a day-to-day basis so if you occupy the property for part of the year, you’ll only pay for that portion.