In Wales, small business rates relief removes the bill up to a rateable value of £6,000 and tapers to nothing at £12,000, on up to two properties per business in each council. After the 2026 revaluation, transitional relief takes 67% off any rise of more than £300 in 2026/27, provided the same ratepayer was there on 31 March 2026. Your council applies transitional relief automatically. Most other reliefs have to be claimed from your council, not from the Valuation Office.
A relief is a discount your council takes off your business rates bill after the main sum has been done. The sum itself works the same way on both sides of the border: the Valuation Office sets your rateable value and the government sets the multiplier. But Wales sets its own multipliers and its own reliefs, and almost every threshold is different from England's. Advice written for England will give you the wrong answer here.
What is different in Wales
| Wales 2026/27 | England 2026/27 | |
|---|---|---|
| Small business relief: full relief up to | £6,000 | £12,000 |
| Small business relief: ends at | £12,000 | £15,000 |
| How many properties | Up to two per business in each council | Usually one in all of England |
| Transitional relief | Pay 33% of a rise of more than £300 | Percentage caps on the rise (5%, 15%, 30%) |
| Lower rate for shops | 35.0p, only for shops, kiosks, pharmacies and post offices under £51,000 | 38.2p or 43.0p for retail, hospitality and leisure |
| Higher rate | 51.5p above £100,000, with exemptions for public services | 50.8p from £500,000 |
| Appeals | Valuation Tribunal for Wales | Valuation Tribunal for England |
Automatic, or only if you ask?
| Relief | Who grants it | Do you have to ask? |
|---|---|---|
| Small business rates relief | Your council | No — automatic, but tell your council if you have more than two properties in its area |
| Transitional relief (2026 revaluation) | Your council | No — automatic |
| The 35p retail multiplier | Set by the list description | No — but check |
| Food and drink hospitality relief | Your council | Yes |
| Charitable and sports club relief | Your council | Yes |
| Empty property relief | Your council | Yes — tell them it is empty |
| Registered childcare relief | Your council | Ask your council |
Small business rates relief
If your rateable value is £6,000 or less, small business rates relief takes the bill to nothing. Between £6,001 and £12,000 it tapers away on a straight line: at £9,000 you get half off, at £7,000 you get 83% off. From £12,000 you pay the full bill.
Two properties per council, not one in the whole country
- A business can get the relief on up to two properties in each council area. That is more generous than England's single-property rule, and it is counted council by council.
- The property has to be occupied. An empty property gets empty property relief instead.
- Charities do not get small business rates relief. They get charitable relief, which is 80%.
- Some properties never qualify: those occupied by a council, the police or the Crown, beach huts, and property used only for advertising, car parking, sewage works or telecoms equipment.
Post offices and childcare
- Post offices get 100% relief up to a rateable value of £9,000 and 50% from £9,001 to £12,000. Their bill is worked out on the 35p retail multiplier.
- Registered childcare providers get 100% relief, whatever their rateable value. Your council can tell you how it is applied.
The three multipliers
The multiplier is the number of pence in every pound of rateable value that you pay before reliefs. Wales has three for 2026/27, and which one you are on depends only on two things the Valuation Office records: your rateable value and the description of the property on the rating list.
| Multiplier | Who pays it |
|---|---|
| Retail, 35.0p | Rateable value below £51,000 and described as a shop, kiosk, pharmacy or post office |
| Standard, 50.2p | Everything else, including cafés, restaurants, pubs, hairdressers and offices |
| Higher, 51.5p | Rateable value above £100,000, except schools, hospitals, surgeries, libraries, leisure centres and other public-service descriptions |
Transitional relief after the 2026 revaluation
Every rateable value in Wales changed on 1 April 2026. Transitional relief stops a big rise landing all at once. If your bill for 2026/27 is more than £300 higher than your bill on 31 March 2026, you pay only 33% of the rise this year and 66% of it in 2027/28. You pay the full bill from 2028/29.
- Your council applies it automatically. You do not need to claim.
- You must have been the ratepayer on 31 March 2026 and still be the ratepayer now. If a new business takes over the property, the relief stops.
- There is no relief for days the property is empty, or for a property that is partly occupied and has had its bill split.
- It covers any size and any use of property. It is not only for small businesses.
How last year's bill is worked out
Last year's bill, for this purpose, is your 2023 rateable value times the 2025/26 multiplier of 56.8p, less any statutory relief you had: small business rates relief or 80% charitable relief. Reliefs your council gave at its own discretion are left out. That includes the 40% retail, leisure and hospitality relief many businesses had in 2025/26. Those discretionary reliefs are applied after transitional relief, not taken into account when working it out.
The £300 edge, and why a successful challenge can cost you this year
If a Check or Challenge lowers your rateable value, your council works transitional relief out again on the lower bill. If the rise is now £300 or less, the relief stops altogether. On a small property that can mean this year's bill goes up slightly, even though your rateable value went down. The saving arrives later. Depending on how big your rise was, it starts in 2027/28 or in 2028/29, and from 2028/29, when transitional relief would have ended anyway, you pay less every year.
Transitional relief does not grow with inflation. The rise it covers is fixed at its 2026/27 size, so any increase in the multiplier in 2027/28 falls on you in full.
Shops, cafés, pubs and restaurants
The 40% retail, leisure and hospitality relief was a 2025/26 scheme. For 2026/27 the Welsh Government has put the help in two different places.
- Smaller shops, kiosks, pharmacies and post offices with a rateable value under £51,000 pay the lower 35.0p retail multiplier. It follows the description on the rating list, so you do not apply for it.
- Pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and live music venues can claim food and drink hospitality relief: 15% off the 2026/27 bill, capped at £110,000 per business across Wales. You have to apply to your council, and you will be asked to confirm you are within the £315,000 limit on minimal financial assistance.
Charities, sports clubs and empty property
Charitable and sports club relief
A registered charity gets 80% off where the property is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes. A registered community amateur sports club gets the same where the property is used for the club. Your council can top this up to 100% at its discretion. If the council doubts that an organisation is a charity, it may ask for a letter from HMRC.
Empty property relief
- Three months rate-free once a property becomes empty, or six months for industrial property. You have to tell your council.
- Some property stays exempt until it is used again: a rateable value below £2,600, listed buildings, scheduled monuments, and property where occupation is prohibited by law.
- To start a new rate-free period, the property must have been occupied for more than 26 weeks first.
What to do if you think something is missing
Ask your council for a list
Ask which reliefs are on your account, the dates each ran from and to, and which multiplier your bill uses.
Tell them how many properties you have
For small business rates relief, say in writing how many properties your business occupies in that council area, with the rateable value of each.
Check transitional relief
If your bill rose by more than £300 and you were the ratepayer on 31 March 2026, transitional relief should be on it. If it is not, ask why.
Claim what has to be claimed
Food and drink hospitality relief, charitable relief and empty property relief all start with an application or a notice from you.
Take valuation questions to the Valuation Office
If the rateable value or the description looks wrong, use a Check. Appeals in Wales go to the Valuation Tribunal for Wales.
Read next
Sources
- Business Wales: small business rates relief
- Business Wales: transitional relief, 2026 revaluation
- Business Wales: multipliers
- Business Wales: charitable rates relief
- Business Wales: empty property rates relief
- Business Wales: stakeholder update, February 2026
- Welsh Government: £116m business rates support package (3 December 2025)
General information, not financial or legal advice. Independent service — not endorsed by the VOA or HMRC. Official rateable values and formal decisions come only from the VOA/HMRC. Wales only.