Business rates relief

Skip contents

Improvement relief

You might get improvement relief if you make certain improvements to your property. If you’re eligible, you’ll get the relief for one year. It starts from when you complete your improvements.

Eligibility

Any improvements you make must:

They must also either:

  • increase the size of your property

  • add new features or equipment to your property, such as heating, air conditioning or CCTV

Any improvements to existing features or equipment do not qualify.

You must have occupied the property during and after the improvement works to get improvement relief. You cannot pass on your improvement relief to anybody else.

What you’ll get

Your local council will decide how much relief you get based on your property’s ‘rateable value’ and the type of improvements you’ve made.

How to get improvement relief

You can report changes to your property using your business rates valuation account. 

The VOA will decide if the changes could be considered for improvement relief. They will send a certificate to you and your council showing:

  • how the improvement affects the property’s rateable value
  • when the relief ends

Once your local council has confirmed you were occupying the property for the duration of the improvements, they will:

  • decide how much improvement relief you are entitled to
  • send you a reduced rates bill

If you think you should be getting improvement relief but are not

Contact your local council if you’re not getting improvement relief and you think you’re eligible for it.

View a printable version of the whole guide

Related content