Small business rate relief

The government has recently announced a temporary increase in the level of Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) available to eligible businesses.

Please click on the link at the bottom of this page in order to view the fact sheet produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

These changes will come into effect in October 2010, further details are still awaited regarding these changes, however, the current regulations are shown below.

From April 2005

Who can get it?

Small business rate relief is a relief applicable from the 1 April 2005 for small businesses that occupy only one property in England and has a rateable value of less than £15,000 on 1 April 2005 or any further qualifying period
All properties in England occupied by the ratepayer must be listed on the application form. For any particular day, the billing authority will disregard the rate payers occupation of an additional property in England where:

(a) its rateable value shown in the non domestic rating list for that day is not more that £2,199 and

(b) the total value on that day of all the properties the ratepayer occupies in England is not more than £21,499 for a property situated in Greater London for £14,999 for a property outside Greater London.

If the ratepayer occupies more than one property, their right to relief is dependent on the rateable values of the other properties they occupy. Where the ratepayer occupies properties in more than one area, if the rateable values of a property outside the area of the billing authority granting the relief goes up, the ratepayer must notify the billing authority of the increase which must be done in writing, four weeks of the change

How much relief will be given?

Qualifying properties with a rateable value of not more than £5,000 will be entitled to 50% relief
Qualifying properties with a rateable value more than £5,000 but less than £10,000 will have relief calculated on a sliding scale, reducing to nil at £10,000
Qualifying properties with rateable values from £10,000 to £15,000 will not have a percentage relief but will have their bill calculated using the small business non-domestic rating multiplier.

From April 2010

Who can get it?

Small business rate relief is available for small businesses that occupy only one property in England and has a rateable value of less than £18,000 on 1 April 2010 or any further qualifying period
All properties in England occupied by the ratepayer must be listed on the application form. For any particular day, the billing authority will disregard the rate payers occupation of an additional property in England where:

(a) its rateable value shown in the non domestic rating list for that day is not more that £2,599 and

(b) the total value on that day of all the properties the ratepayer occupies in England is not more than £25,499 for a property situated in Greater London for £17,999 for a property outside Greater London.

If the ratepayer occupies more than one property, their right to relief is dependent on the rateable values of the other properties they occupy. Where the ratepayer occupies properties in more than one area, if the rateable values of a property outside the area of the billing authority granting the relief goes up, the ratepayer must notify the billing authority of the increase which must be done in writing, four weeks of the change

How much relief will be given?

Qualifying properties with a rateable value of not more than £6,000 will be entitled to 50% relief
Qualifying properties with a rateable value more than £6,000 but less than £12,000 will have relief calculated on a sliding scale, reducing to nil at £12,000
Qualifying properties with rateable values from £12,000 to £18,000 will not have a percentage relief but will have their bill calculated using the small business non-domestic rating multiplier.

How to apply for relief

complete and sign application form below
in writing to Salford City Council, Customer and Support Services, Business Rates, Unity House, Salford Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Manchester M27 5AW
or by email to business.rates@salford.gov.uk

Warning - It is a criminal offence for a ratepayer to give false information when making an application for a small business rate relief.

If your circumstances change after completing this form you should notify us immediately. Any dispute regarding the granting of relief may require further information to be requested in support of the application.