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

The Valuation OfficeThe government body that sets every property's Rateable Value. From April 2026 the VOA is part of HMRC (see below), but 'VOA' is still the common name for the valuation side of the work. cut more English rateable valuesThe official estimate of a property's annual rental value on a fixed valuation date. Your rates bill is based on this figure, not on what you actually pay in rent. than it raised for the third month running in September, taking a further £8.38m off the tax base. That is the deepest monthly fall so far, after £4.10m in July and £6.16m in August — £18.6m across the three months.

September's reduction is worth roughly £3.6m a year to English businesses in lower business ratesThe tax most non-residential properties in England and Wales pay to their local council, similar to council tax but for shops, offices, warehouses and other business premises. at the 43.2p small business multiplierThe pence-in-the-pound rate the government sets each year. Your rates bill is roughly Rateable Value × multiplier, before any reliefs are applied., and more where the higher multipliers apply. Rateable values change when a property is altered, split, merged or recategorised, or when the Valuation Office corrects its own valuation.

The rateable value is the official estimate of the annual rent a commercial property would command on the open market at a set date. Your bill is that figure multiplied by a rate set by government, less any reliefs — so when the rateable value moves, the bill moves with it.

What moved in September

Across England, 2,603 commercial properties had their rateable value reviewed during the month: 1,181 were cut, 596 were raised and 826 came out unchanged. That is a net reduction of £8,384,020. Rateable value per square metreThe value per square metre used to build up a property's Rateable Value. Comparing your £/m² rate to similar nearby properties is the main way to check whether your RV looks too high. across the amended properties fell 2.88%, and the typical property that moved fell 4.55% — the steepest typical fall of the three months.

It is also the most widely spread fall of the three months. No single property accounts for more than 2.7% of September's movement, against 19.3% in August. This is a lot of properties each moving a little, not one large building moving a lot.

Where the falls landed

Only eight of England's 296 billing authoritiesYour local council — the body that actually sends your bill and collects payment, using the Rateable Value the VOA has set. saw enough movement in September to be ranked. Camden recorded the largest net fall at £1.12m across 27 amended properties, followed by Westminster at £1.00m and Leeds at £463,400. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (−£296,600) and Hackney (−£63,000) followed.

Westminster is the broad-based story again: 44 of its 63 amended properties were cut, and it has now fallen in each of the last three months — £4.63m in all. Leeds was broad too, with 28 of its 38 amended properties cut. Camden's figure is concentrated: one property accounts for about two-thirds of its movement, and one accounts for a third of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole's, which is why we publish the cash figure rather than a percentage for both.

On the risers' side, Cornwall was the only one of the eight ranked authorities to post a net rise, and only just — £4,150 across 50 amended properties. Larger rises elsewhere came from a single property or a single piece of Valuation Office work, which is not enough to say anything about the place, so they do not qualify for ranking.

Which property types moved

Offices again did the most work. Office rateable values fell £4.18m in September across 581 amended properties, taking the fall since July to £15.47m — still the largest movement in the table. More office valuations were raised this month than before (120, against around 70 in each of July and August), but the cuts were bigger, and the typical office that moved fell 4.48%.

The new story is Assembly & Leisure. Its rateable values fell £2.07m across 320 amended properties — more than double the £0.96m of each of the previous two months — with 191 cut against 52 raised, and the typical property that moved down 27.2%. Most of that is one group: licensed sports, social and private members' clubs. The Valuation Office amended 100 of them across 60 councils in September and cut 98, by a typical 58%. Their floor areas did not change, so these are revisions to the valuations, not to the buildings. If you run a licensed club, it is worth comparing your own rateable value against clubs nearby.

General Industrial fell £1.12m, its third consecutive fall and £5.35m across the three months. Shops were down £0.75m, a second monthly fall after July's £5.68m rise.

Storage and Distribution posted the largest rise, up £1.84m across 124 amended properties. Unlike August's rise, which was almost all a single extended warehouse, this one is spread out — no single property is more than 18% of it. More warehouses were cut (52) than raised (37), so the rises were on the larger buildings.

Fewer cases, but more formal Challenges

1,746 Check and ChallengeThe three-stage official process for disputing your Rateable Value: 'Check' the facts held about your property, 'Challenge' the valuation with evidence, then 'Appeal' to an independent tribunal if it's still unresolved. cases were recorded in September across 270 councils, down from 1,896 in August and 2,025 in July. But formal Challenges — the stage after a Check, where the ratepayer disputes the valuation itself — rose for a second month running, from 31 in July to 47 in August and 79 in September. Volume is easing; the share of cases going to a formal dispute is growing.

Offices led on volume with 654 cases, ahead of Industry (416), Other (371) and Retail (305). By council, the City of London recorded the most cases (112), followed by Bristol (76), Birmingham (53), Westminster (44) and Southwark (35). Bristol's 76 is more than double its average of about 31 a month over the previous three months.

Rateable value is the figure your bill is calculated from, and the Valuation Office is currently amending it downwards far more often than upwards. If you think yours is too high, a Check is the first step — and it is free. A full month-by-month breakdown sits on our monthly movements page.

You don't need to guess. Enter your postcode and we'll compare your rateable value to genuine local comparables, instantly and for free.