The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) regularly updates the rateable values of business and other non-domestic properties through a process called revaluation. This ensures business rates bills reflect changes in the property market and are based on the most up-to-date information.
Rateable values represent the estimated rent a property could have been let for on a set valuation date.
The current revaluation is the 2023 rating list, which is based on a valuation date of 1 April 2021. These rateable values have been used to calculate business rates bills from 1 April 2023.
The next revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2026, and the autumn budget 2025 will confirm the exact multipliers for 2026. A second piece of legislation will then define retail, hospitality and leisure eligibility for the new system.
New multipliers from 2026
- Two new lower multipliers will apply to RHL properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000. These replace the annual RHL relief, offering long-term certainty.
- A higher multiplier will apply to all properties with RVs of £500,000 and above, targeting large distribution centres and online retailers.
- Business rates bills will continue to be calculated by multiplying the rateable value by the relevant multiplier and then applying any eligible reliefs.
| Multiplier type | Applies to | New multiplier amount |
| Small business retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier | Retail, hospitality & leisure businesses with a rateable value over £51,000 | 38.2p |
| Small business non-retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier | Non-retail, hospitality & leisure businesses with a rateable value over £51,000 | 43.2p |
| Standard retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier | Retail, hospitality & leisure businesses with a rateable value between £51,000 - £499,999 | 43.0p |
| Standard non-retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier | Non-retail, hospitality & leisure businesses with a rateable value between £51,000 - £499,999 | 48.0p |
| Large property multiplier | All properties with rateable value above or equal to £500,000 | 50.8p |
Small business rates relief
As announced by the Chancellor, the period for which ratepayers retain Small Business Rates Relief on their original property after moving into a second property – often referred to as the grace period – will be increased from 1 year to 3 years. This will apply to businesses expanding after the Budget, with effect from the 27 November. The regulations will be laid in due course.
2026 Supporting small business scheme (SSB relief)
Bill increases for businesses losing some or all of their small business rates relief or rural rate relief will be capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief caps from 1 April 2026. The 2026 SSB relief scheme has been expanded to ratepayers losing their RHL relief. The government has also announced a one-year extension of the 2023 Supporting Small Business scheme from 1 April 2026. This support is applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.
Legislative safeguards
The Non-Domestic Rating (multipliers and private schools) Bill introduces limits:
- Large property multiplier can’t exceed the standard multiplier by more than 10p.
- Retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers can’t be more than 20p lower than the small business multiplier.
Find out more
You can visit either the Valuation Office Agency website, the Gov.uk website, or the HM Treasury website.
