Reducing your business rates

Small business rate relief

This relief is only available to ratepayers who apply to Wandsworth Council and who occupy either -

(a) one property, or
(b) one main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have a rateable value which does not exceed £2,599.

The rateable value of the property mentioned in (a), or the aggregate rateable value of all the properties mentioned in (b), must not exceed £17,999 outside London or £25,499 in London on each day for which relief is being sought. If the rateable value, or aggregate rateable value, increases above those levels, relief will cease from the day of the increase.

Eligible businesses with rateable values of below £6,000 receive 50% rate relief on their liability. This relief decreases on a sliding scale of 1% for every £100 of rateable value over £6,000, up to £12,000.

Eligible businesses with a rateable value between £6,001 and £12,000 currently receive relief on a sliding scale from 50% to 0%, where every £120 rateable value equates to 1%.

Eligible businesses with rateable values of between £12,001 and £25,499 will have their liability calculated using the small business multiplier.

The Small Business Rate multiplier is 42.6p
The Standard Rate multiplier is 43.3p

The Small Business Rate Relief scheme is funded by a supplement on the rate bill of those businesses not eligible for the relief. This supplement is built into the standard multiplier.

Small businesses already receiving relief will be able to continue to receive it without reapplying for it following the 2010 revaluation (or subsequent revaluations) provided that they remain eligible for it.

The circumstances in which eligible businesses receiving relief are required to notify the council of a change are:

Where the rateable value of any property you occupy in another council area increases. Your notification must be made to us in writing.
Should you occupy any property, which is not mentioned, on your previous application for relief, notification should be made by way of a new application to the council.

These changes must be notified to us within four weeks starting on the day after the change occurred.

Failure to notify the council within four weeks of the date of change will mean that you will no longer be entitled to the relief.

If you notify the council after the four-week period, you will lose the relief from the day after the date of change until the day on which the council is notified.

If your change in circumstances is such that you are no longer eligible for the relief, entitlement will end from the date of change.

Application forms

Application forms with guidance notes and the change of circumstance form are available.

These forms can be downloaded and on completion returned to the address shown on the form.

Budget announcement

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government will temporarily increase the level of Small Business Rate Relief so that eligible ratepayers will pay no rates on properties with rateable values up to £6,000, with a tapered relief of between 100% and 0% for properties with rateable values between £6,001 and £12,000.

The new levels of relief will be available for 24 months from 1 October 2010 to 30 September 2012.