Business Rates revaluation 2023

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) updates the rateable values of all business and other non-domestic properties (properties that are not just private homes) in England and Wales. This is called a revaluation.

Rateable values are the amount of rent a property could have been let for on a set valuation date. For the 2023 valuation, that date was 1 April 2021.

The council use these rateable values to calculate business rates bills.

Revaluations are carried out to reflect changes in the property market. This means that business rates bills are based on more up-to-date information.

The next revaluation will come into effect on 1 April 2023.

Contacting the Valuation Office Agency

The VOA is responsible for the valuation of your property. You will therefore need to contact the VOA for all queries about your rateable value.

The council is responsible for issuing your business rates bill, reliefs, exemptions and collection of the tax.

Finding your rateable value

You are now able to see the future rateable value for your property and get an estimate of what your 2023/24 business rates bill may be. You can do this through the VOA’s find a Business Rates Valuation Service on GOV.UK.

Your property details need changing

To tell the VOA about changes to your property details (such as floor area sizes and parking) you need a business rates valuation account. The VOA may accept your changes and update the current and future valuations.

Sign in or register for a business rates valuation account

You think your rateable value is too high

From 1 April 2023, you will need to use a business rates valuation account to tell the VOA you think your rateable value is too high. You must continue to pay your business rates as normal until a decision has been made.

Sign in or register for a business rates valuation account ready for 1 April 2023.

How Coronavirus (Covid-19) affected future rateable values

The VOA bases most rateable values on an estimate of what it would cost to rent a property for a year, starting on a certain date.

For the 2023 valuation, that date was 1 April 2021. This was during the pandemic and the rent information the VOA used reflected this.

Rateable multipliers for 2023-24 and future reliefs

The provisional multipliers for the 2023-24 financial year are:

• 49.9 pence for the Small Business Rate Multiplier
• 51.2 pence for the Standard Multiplier

With effect from 1 April 2023, the following relief schemes will be available

• 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) rate relief scheme increasing the current relief from 50 per cent to 75 per cent in 2023-24, up to £110k per business
  
  
• A new Supporting Small Business (SSB) relief scheme to ensure no small business faces a bill increase greater than £600 per year for 2023-24 as a result of losing eligibility for Small Business Rate Relief
  
  
• Transitional Relief scheme to limit bill increases caused by changes in rateable values

The government carried out a consultation on Transitional Relief (TR). This removed the need for revenue-neutral transitional arrangements. The 2023 scheme will not fund upwards transitional relief (‘upwards caps’) by restricting falls in bills to raise revenue (‘downwards caps’).

This will make the business rates system fairer and more responsive. It will allow ratepayers whose properties see a fall in rateable value to see the benefit of the revaluation reflected in their bills. The government will Exchequer fund upwards caps for the 2023 TR scheme at a cost of £1.6 billion.

*Year 2 and 3 caps are before inflation

If you are entitled to transitional relief this will be automatically awarded and be shown on the front of your bill.