The Valuation Office Agency periodically updates the rateable values of business and other non-domestic properties through a process known as revaluation. This ensures that business rates bills reflect changes in the property market and are based on up-to-date rental evidence.
A rateable value represents the estimated annual rent a property could have been let for on a specified valuation date.
Current and upcoming revaluations
The current revaluation is the 2023 rating list, based on rental values as at 1 April 2021, and has been used to calculate business rates bills since 1 April 2023.
The next revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2026.
The multiplier
Once a property’s rateable value has been set at revaluation, it is used to calculate the business rates bill by applying a multiplier.
The multiplier is a pence-in-the-pound figure set by government each year, which converts the rateable value into a basic rates liability. Different multipliers apply depending on a property’s rateable value and type of use, and these can be adjusted through reliefs or support schemes.
This approach ensures that business rates are linked both to property market values and wider economic policy decisions.
Multipliers from 1 April 2026
From April 2026, the existing annual Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief will be replaced by permanently lower multipliers for qualifying properties, providing greater long-term certainty.
- Two lower multipliers apply to RHL properties with rateable values below £500,000.
- A higher multiplier applies to all properties with rateable values of £500,000 or more, including large distribution centres and online retailers.
- Business rates bills will continue to be calculated by multiplying the rateable value by the relevant multiplier, with any applicable reliefs then applied.
| 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 - grace period
The period during which a ratepayer can retain Small Business Rates Relief on their original property after acquiring a second property (the grace period) has been extended from 12 months to 36 months.
This applies to businesses expanding from 27 November 2024, in line with the regulations now in force.
2026 Supporting Small Business (SSB) Relief
From 1 April 2026, increases in business rates bills for ratepayers losing some or all of their:
- Small Business Rates Relief.
- Rural Rate Relief.
- Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief.
will be capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief cap.
The Supporting Small Business scheme has been expanded to include ratepayers losing RHL relief, and the existing scheme has been extended for one further year from 1 April 2026. This support is applied before changes in other reliefs and any local supplements.
Legislative safeguards
The Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Act introduces statutory limits, including:
- The large property multiplier cannot exceed the standard multiplier by more than 10p.
- Retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers cannot 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.
