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What’s changing in business rates

Plain-English analysis of the rating system — what’s changing, what it costs you, and how to check you’re not overpaying. Written from our own data and the VOA’s published figures.

Latest

VOA change files, October 2026

£1.22mnet rateable value taken off in October

−5.0%median change, the deepest of the four months

94formal Challenges, the most in any month

Analysis2 November 20265 min read

Rateable Value Cuts Slow in October, but the Median Cut Is the Deepest Yet; Havering Leads the Way

The Valuation Office took £1.22m off rateable values in October, a fourth monthly fall but far smaller than September's. Cuts still outnumbered rises two to one and the median cut was the deepest we have recorded, at 5%. Formal Challenges reached a new high. Here's what moved, where, and what it means for your own bill.

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More from us

Budget30 October 20266 min read

Birmingham, Cornwall, North Yorkshire Small Businesses Are the Biggest Winners in 2026 Autumn Budget Changes

More than 2,400 shops, cafés, pubs and salons in Birmingham, and over 1,200 each in Cornwall and North Yorkshire, will stop paying business rates from April 2027 under the Budget's new relief thresholds. Here is the top ten, the councils where the biggest share gains, and why.

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Budget29 October 20266 min read

Budget 2026: What the New £18,000 Small Business Rate Relief Threshold Saves Shops, Pubs and Cafés

The Budget confirmed the rise in Small Business Rate Relief we wrote about in September, and took it to £18,000, but only for retail, hospitality and leisure properties. Here is what it saves at each rateable value, how many properties in England stand to gain, what it will cost and how it will work.

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Budget28 October 20266 min read

Autumn Budget 2026: Business Rates — What Changes, Who It Affects and When

The Budget cuts business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England from April 2027: Small Business Rate Relief up to £18,000, 35% relief for pubs and a two-year freeze in real terms. Here is every change, who it affects and when it starts.

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Budget26 October 20266 min read

Budget Preview: Small Business Rate Relief Threshold May Rise to £18,000 as Healey Drops the Warehouse Tax, Reports Say

Five weeks on from our first look at the Budget, the reported small business rate relief threshold has moved up to £18,000, the warehouse tax that was meant to pay for it has been dropped, and a £1.1bn inflation rise for multipliers is waiting for April. Here is what the evidence points to for Wednesday, and what our own figures say it would cost.

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Analysis20 October 20265 min read

Business rates before the Budget: three things to check now

The Budget on 28 October can change the multiplier and the reliefs, from April 2027 at the earliest. It cannot change the number your bill is built on: your rateable value. Here are the three things worth checking before the Chancellor stands up, and why none of them wait for the Budget.

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Product15 October 20261 min read

Croeso, Cymru! BusinessRateChecker Is Now Live in Wales

Welsh businesses can now see if they are overpaying on their business rates bill too. We have checked all 110,819 properties on the Welsh rating list under the Welsh rules, and analysed 1,361 Valuation Tribunal for Wales decisions.

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Analysis3 October 20265 min read

Business Rate Valuations Fall for a Third Month in September; Camden, Westminster and Leeds Lead the Way

The Valuation Office took a further £8.38m off England's rateable value base in September — the third monthly fall in a row and the deepest yet. 1,181 properties were cut against 596 raised, licensed clubs saw some of the steepest cuts, and formal Challenges rose for a second month. Here's what moved, where, and what it means for your own bill.

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Budget28 September 20263 min read

Chancellor Healey’s Conference Speech: “First Duty is Fiscal Discipline”

John Healey’s first Labour conference speech as Chancellor was about fiscal discipline and industry. Business rates did not feature, but the Budget on 28 October still could change your bill. Here is what he said and what is reportedly on the table.

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Budget23 September 20262 min read

SBRR Threshold Raise Proposal: See How Much You Could Save?

Treasury officials are reported to be looking at raising the Small Business Rate Relief threshold from £12,000 to just above £17,000. We ran the numbers on what that would save a single high street shop.

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Budget19 September 20266 min read

Burnham Mulls Nearly £1bn of Business Rate Cuts in the October Budget

Nothing has been signed off, but four weeks of statements from the Prime Minister and his Treasury team point at up to £1bn coming out of the £30bn business rates take at the October Budget. Here is every statement that matters, what the press is briefing, and our own estimate of what the headline change would actually cost.

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Analysis7 September 20264 min read

Business Rate Valuations Fall for a Second Month in August; City of London, Westminster and Cornwall Lead the Way

The Valuation Office took a further £6.45m off England's rateable value base in August — a deeper cut than July's £4.36m and the second consecutive monthly fall. 997 properties were cut against 533 raised, and Check and Challenge activity stayed near record levels. Here's what moved, where, and what it means for your own bill.

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Analysis26 July 20265 min read

Small Business Requests to Challenge HMRC Data Have Exploded Since April's Rate Hike

VOA data shows requests to correct property records have rocketed from almost nothing in April to over 700 a week by July — and more than four in five have been accepted in full. Here's what's driving the surge, and what it means for your own rates bill.

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Budget23 July 20263 min read

Business Rates Relief Boost for Pubs, Clubs and Live Music Venues from 2027

The government has confirmed a 20% cut to business rates bills for pubs, social clubs and live music venues from April 2027 — worth an estimated £1,100 a year to the average pub. Here's what's changing, how it's funded, and who misses out.

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Analysis17 July 20265 min read

More than half of business rates appeals succeed, VOA figures show

New VOA data shows 57% of businesses that challenged their rates bill secured a reduction — better-than-even odds. But almost 130,000 cases were filed in a single quarter, and the queue is only getting longer.

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Analysis2 July 20266 min read

How much are UK small businesses really overpaying on business rates?

Business rates bills are based on a valuation nobody checked in person. Here's why that leads to overpayment, what the government's own figures show, and the narrow window you now have to do something about it.

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