Reductions and Relief

• Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR)
• Charitable Relief and Discretionary Relief
• Relief for registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)
• Empty Property Rating
• Relief for properties which are partly occupied
• Rural Rate Relief
• Transitional Relief
• Supporting Small Businesses Relief
• Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme

Reducing your bill

If you pay business rates, you may be entitled to rate relief that will help reduce your bill. Find the several rate relief schemes available listed below:

Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR)

From 1 April 2017 qualifying businesses with a rateable value of up to £12,000 will receive 100% relief and for those between £12,001 and £14,999 they will receive relief on a tapered basis. If you do not already receive Small Business Rate Relief apply using the link below.

This relief is only available to ratepayers who apply to their local authority and who occupy either:

• One property.
• One main property and other properties, as long as those other properties each have a rateable value of less than £2,900.

Registered charities entitled to mandatory rate relief cannot apply for SBRR.

The rateable value of the property, or the aggregate rateable value of all properties, must be under £20,000 outside London or £28,000 in London. On 1 April of the financial year in question, on the day you apply for relief, and each day in between. If the rateable value or the aggregate rateable value of the properties increases above those levels, relief will end on the day of the increase.

If you meet these conditions we will work out the bill for your single, or main, property using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier. Instead of the ordinary non-domestic rating multiplier that is used to work out the liability of other businesses.

If the single, or main, property is shown on the rating list with a rateable value of up to £15,000, you will receive a percentage reduction in your rates bill for this property. The reduction will be up to a maximum of 100% for a property with a rateable value of no more than £12,000 (for those eligible businesses with rateable values between £12,001 and £14,999 the relief will be tapered). We grant your relief as long as your circumstances do not change.

You must tell us about the following changes in circumstances:

• You start to occupy a property you did not occupy at the time of making your application for relief.
• There is an increase in the rateable value of a property you occupy in another area.

It was announced by the government in the 2013 Autumn Statement that ratepayers receiving Small Business Rate Relief who take on an additional property, which would normally disqualify them from receiving relief, will be allowed to keep that relief for a period of 12 months.

You must tell us about these changes within four weeks of the day after the change happened. As long as you do this there will be no interruption to your entitlement to the relief. To tell us you have started to occupy another property, you must make a fresh application for relief.

Apply for Small Business Rate Relief

Charitable Relief and Discretionary Relief

Charities are entitled to relief, at 80% from rates on any non-domestic property that is totally, or mainly, used for charitable purposes.

As well as this, we can decide to give relief on all, or part, of any bill for property which is used by certain non-profit-making organisations.

More information is available in our approved guidelines regarding discretionary rate relief.

We can also consider giving rate relief in cases of hardship or if part of a property cannot be used for a certain period.

Apply for Charitable and/or Discretionary Rate Relief

Relief for registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)

Registered CASCs are also entitled to 80% rate relief on any non-domestic property that is totally, or mainly, used for the purposes of that club, or any other registered clubs. We can also decide to provide extra relief on the other 20% of the bill.

Empty Property Rating

In general, there will be no business rates to pay for the first three months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial properties. After this, you must pay the full rate unless the government has reduced the empty property rate.

If the government has reduced the empty property rate for the financial year, the new rate will be shown on your bill.

You may not have to pay the empty property rate if you meet certain conditions (known as exemptions). These include the following:

Relief for properties which are partly occupied

You are liable for the full non-domestic rate whether the property is fully or only partly used. If you only use part of a property for a short time, we can award relief for the part you are not using. You can get full details by contacting the Business Rates Section.

Rural Rate Relief

The occupier of a general store or post office in an area listed on our rural settlement list is entitled to full rate relief if it is the only store or post office in that area and its rateable value is £8,500 or less. Also entitled to this rate relief is any food shop with a rateable value of £8,500 or less. As well as the only pub and the only petrol station in the village with a rateable value of £12,500 or less. 

We can also cancel all or part of the rate bills on other property in an area on the rural settlement list if the rateable value is £16,500 or less and we are satisfied that the property is used for a purpose which benefits the local community.

Our rural settlement list is only made up of the parishes of Dunham Massey and Warburton.

Transitional Relief

All rateable values are reassessed at a general revaluation. The most recent revaluation took effect from 1 April 2023. Revaluations make sure each ratepayer pays their fair contribution and no more, by ensuring that the share of the national rates bill paid by any one ratepayer reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others.

At a revaluation, some ratepayers will see reductions or no change in their bill whereas some ratepayers will see increases. Transitional relief schemes are introduced at each revaluation to help those facing increases. Transitional relief is applied automatically to bills. Further information about transitional arrangements may be obtained from Trafford Council or at GOV.UK/introduction-to-business-rates.

Supporting Small Businesses Relief

The Supporting Small Businesses relief will help those ratepayers who as a result of the change in their rateable value at the 2023 revaluation are losing some, or all, of their small business or rural rate relief and, as a result, are facing large increases in their bills.

The scheme will be in place between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2026. All ratepayers losing some, or all, of their small business rate relief or rural rate relief will see the increase in their bill capped at £600. The cash minimum increase is £600 per year thereafter.

Ratepayers remain in the Supporting Small Businesses relief scheme for either three years, or until they reach the bill they would have paid without the scheme. A change of ratepayers will not affect eligibility for the Supporting Small Businesses relief scheme but eligibility will be lost if the property falls vacant or becomes occupied by a charity or Community Amateur Sports Club.

The scheme is a new version of the scheme that was in existence from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2023. Businesses that received Transitional Relief following the 2017 revaluation have received 6 years of support to allow them to adjust. Any business that received 2017 Supporting Small Business Relief in 2022/23, eligibility for the 2023/24 Supporting Small Business Relief will end on 31 March 2024.

The calculation of Supporting Small Businesses relief will be in line with government guidance at Business rates relief: Supporting small business relief.

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme

2024/25

At the Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023 the Chancellor announced that the 75% Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme will continue for 2024/25.

The 2024/25 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme will provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 75% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.

In order to check if your business is eligible for this relief visit Business Rates Relief: 2024/25 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Scheme - GOV.UK.

2023/24

At the Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022 the Chancellor announced the introduction of a new business rates relief scheme for retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth around £2.1 billion in 2023/24. This will support the businesses that make our high streets and town centres a success and help them to evolve and adapt to changing consumer demands.

The 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme will provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 75% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.

New applications for this relief must be received, considered and applied to accounts before 30 September 2024.

In order to check if your business is eligible for this relief visit 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Scheme - GOV.UK.

How to apply

To apply for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief, contact us using our General Enquiry form. Once your Enquiry has been recieved, if you are eligible we will write to you to confirm the exact amount of relief we are awarding.