Official Statistics

National non-domestic rates collected by local authorities in England 2023 to 2024

Updated 6 August 2024

Applies to England

This release provides data on non-domestic rating income collected by local authorities in 2023-24, including data relating to the amount of business rates reliefs given to businesses. Due to revaluation in 2023-24 and changes to reliefs, figures are not directly comparable to those in 2022-23, so we have not made year on year comparisons throughout the release. This release was originally published on 10 July 2024. This update, published in August 2024, includes data for one local authority whose data was not returned in time for the original publication in July 2024 and revisions from several authorities. The data in this version of the release are based on provisional returns received from the 296 authorities by 27 July 2024, with data provisional pending the completion of audit of accounts for 2023-24. We will update this release as finalised data become available but we do not expect to see any major changes in these figures.

1. In this release:

• Local authorities reported that the non-domestic rates income for 2023-24 was £25.1 billion. This amount is what authorities collected after all reliefs, accounting adjustments and sums retained outside the rates retention scheme are taken into consideration.
• Local authorities reported that they granted a total of £7.0 billion of relief from business rates in 2023-24. Of this £1.4 billion was the net cost of small business rate relief, £3.2 billion was the cost of other mandatory relief and £2.5 billion was the cost of discretionary relief, of which £2.3 billion was the retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
• Total relief provided to charitable occupations (that is both mandatory and discretionary relief) amounted to £2.2 billion in respect of 2023-24.
• Authorities granted £1.9 billion relief under the Small Business Rate relief scheme for 2023-24.
• Local authorities reported a net decrease in appeals provision of £390 million and losses in collection of £162 million in 2023-24.

Release date: 10 July 2024 (revised August 2024)
Date of next release: July 2025
Contact: 0303 444 8433 / nndr.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk (Responsible Statistician: Jo Coleman)
Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 / NewsDesk@levellingup.gov.uk

2. Introduction

This release has been compiled by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and it provides information on national non-domestic rates and associated information for the financial years 2019-20 to 2023-24. This information has been derived from the national non-domestic rates (NNDR3) returns submitted on behalf of the 296 billing authorities that were in existence in 2023-24 in England.

Final returns are those that have been submitted following an audit of their accounts. This release contains only data based on authorities’ provisional unaudited accounts. These returns have been approved by the Chief Financial Officer to confirm that the form had been completed in accordance with schedule 7B of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and the regulations made under it.

We will update this release as finalised data become available but we do not expect to see any major changes in these figures. The next updated is expected to be in January 2025.

Non-domestic rates, or business rates, are collected by billing authorities and are the way in which those that occupy a non-domestic property (or hereditament) contribute towards local services. The introduction of the business rates retention scheme in 2013-14 allows local authorities to retain a proportion of the revenue that is generated in their area.

Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, such as agricultural land, parks and places of worship, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Billing authorities work out the business rates liability for every hereditament by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate multiplier. Until 1 April 2024, there were two multipliers, the non-domestic multiplier and the small business non-domestic rate multiplier. The former is higher because it included a supplement which is used to fund the Small Business Rate Relief scheme, which is designed to help small businesses meet the cost of their business rates. From 2024-25 (after the period covered in this release), the multipliers have been decoupled so that the standard and small multipliers can be set differently.

In addition to the Small Business Rate Relief scheme, rateable properties may also be eligible for other discounts or reliefs on their business rates bills. Some of these are mandatory i.e. they are automatic entitlements in any billing authority area. Business rates payers may also receive discretionary relief which are granted at a billing authority’s discretion. Further information about the types of reliefs available are presented in Table 2.

2.1 Technical Information

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.

Revaluation and transitional relief

Every few years, the government adjusts the rateable value of business properties to reflect changes in the property market. This is known as a revaluation. At revaluation, the Government also revises the business rates multiplier to reflect the aggregate change in rateable values. As the revaluation is not designed to raise any more or less tax, the Government adjusts the multiplier.

The latest revaluation came into effect on the 1 April 2023 and reflects the rental market as at 1 April 2021. The tables in this release therefore show a discontinuity between 2022-23 and 2023-24 because this affects gross business rates and the amount of relief granted.

At a revaluation, the Government also puts in place a transitional scheme that protects small and medium business ratepayers from significant step-changes in bills, by phasing in increases over a number of years. The cost of the transitional scheme is shown in Table 1. From 2023-24, this reflects the revenue foregone because the rates bills of ratepayers are being phased down as a result of the transitional scheme. In previous years authorities reported a net cost, reflecting that the cost of revenue foregone by delaying increases to bills was offset by additional income raised by delaying reductions to bills.

The previous transitional scheme lasted from the 2017 revaluation to March 2022. Therefore in 2022-23, there are only transitional arrangements figures in respect of previous years. In 2022-23, authorities could give the same support to businesses using the supporting small business relief (a discretionary relief), meaning that the supporting small business relief granted is slightly higher than usual in 2022-23.

Small business rates relief

Small business rates relief provides 100% relief to all businesses that have a rateable value of below £12,000, and a tapering relief for businesses with a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000. The threshold at which a higher multiplier is applied is £51,000.

Prior to 2017-18, this was given as a temporary doubling that required an extension each year, and with different thresholds for the relief.

Multipliers

The Government sets the multipliers for each financial year for England according to formulae set by legislation. Since 2018-19, this has reflected the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the September preceding the start of the financial year. Prior to this, the Retail Price Index (RPI) had been used.

Additionally, the Government capped the increase in the multiplier at 2% in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and have frozen the multiplier since 2021-22, to provide business rate payers with additional support. This, and the change to the CPI has had a knock-on effect to the multiplier to subsequent years, which authorities are compensated for through a Section 31 grant.

2.2 Special Factors Affecting 2020-21 to 2023-24

In 2020-21 the government implemented many measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In relation to business rates, the existing retail discount relief was expanded into a 100% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. This was originally referred to as the expanded retail discount relief, but is referred to in this release as the retail, hospitality and leisure relief. A relief for nurseries was also introduced. These two reliefs were granted by local authorities and funded through section 31 grants. The reliefs were continued in 2021-22, though they only gave 100% business rates relief for the first three months of the financial year (April to June) and 66% for the remainder of the year, with a maximum value of £110,000 per business. In 2022-23 the relief was only 50% but with the same cap per business, and in 2023-24, the relief was 75% with the same cap. This means the amounts of those reliefs given are not directly comparable across years. This also affects total net rates income and may affect the amount of other reliefs granted, so we have not made year on year comparisons throughout the release.

In 2021-22 the government introduced the COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF), making £1.5 billion available for local authorities to give as discretionary support for businesses affected by the pandemic but ineligible for existing business rates support. This relief was available in respect of 2021-22 only. However, the majority of the CARF relief was granted in the financial year 2022-23 in respect of 2021-22, and so is included in Table 2 on two different lines: Relief in respect of current year of which is CARF, in 2021-22, and Adjustments to relief in respect of previous years of which is CARF, in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

3. National non-domestic rates collected by local authorities

Table 1 provides details of the total amount of national non-domestic rates local authorities collected in 2023-24 and the reliefs they granted. The multipliers used are also shown. The national non-domestic multiplier in 2023-24 included a 1.3p supplement to fund the Small Business Rate Relief scheme. Table 1a has been additionally included to show the breakdown of the losses in collection and net addition to appeals provision, to aid interpretation of these figures. Chart 1 shows the flow from gross rates to net rates in 2023-24. Chart 2 shows how gross and net rates have changed since 2013-14.

• Local authorities reported that the non-domestic rating income for 2023-24 was £25.1 billion. This amount is what authorities collected after all reliefs, accounting adjustments and sums retained outside the rates retention scheme are taken into consideration.
• Local authorities reported that they granted a total of £7.0 billion of relief from business rates in 2023-24.
• Local authorities reported a net decrease in appeals provision of £390 million in 2023-24. This was made up of an increase in the appeals provision (£883 million), minus the amount charged against the existing provision in-year (£1.3 billion).
• Local authorities reported losses in collection of £162 million in 2023-24. This was composed mostly of changes in the allowance for losses in collection (£191 million), rather than the amount lost as written off bad debt in-year (£29 million).

Table 1: National non-domestic rates collected by local authorities, 2019-20 to 2023-24 (all figures £ million)

Year	2019 to 2020		2020 to 2021 [Note 8]		2021 to 2022 [Note 8]		2022 to 2023 [Note 8]		2023 to 2024 [Note 9]
Gross rates payable in year	30,933		30,939		30,801		30,731	||	32,337 [r]
Total cost of reliefs	5,090	||	16,035	||	10,275	||	7,685	||	7,021 [r]
Of which net cost of Small Business Rate relief	1,416		1,601		1,617		1,675	||	1,368 [r]
Of which other mandatory relief	3,071		3,132		3,388		3,216	||	3,171 [r]
Of which discretionary relief [Note 1]	603	||	11,302	||	5,270	||	2,794	||	2,482 [r]
Gross Rates Payable in year less total cost of reliefs	25,842	||	14,904	||	20,526	||	23,046	||	25,316 [r]
Net cost of transitional arrangement [Note 1] [Note 2]	83		192		182		121	||	-1,654 [r]
Of which additional revenue received in current year because reduction delayed [Note 1] [Note 2]	354		207		147		[z]		[z]
Of which additional revenue received in respect of previous years because reduction delayed [Note 1]	7		47		69		75	||	116 [r]
(Less) Of which revenue foregone in current year because reduction delayed [Note 1] [Note 2]	324		155		84		[z]	||	1,811 [r]
(Less) Of which revenue foregone in respect of previous years because reduction delayed	-46		-92		-50		-45	||	-42
Net Rates Yield (Gross Rates Payable plus net cost of Transition)	25,925	||	15,096	||	20,708	||	23,166	||	23,662 [r]
Total cost of accounting adjustments	247		1,692		-211		-190	||	-212 [r]
Of which losses in collection [Note 3]	301		822		136		176	||	162 [r]
Of which net addition to appeals provision [Note 4]	-54		870		-348		-366	||	-390 [r]
Of which interest payable [Note 5]	0		0		0		0	||	17 [r]
Other deductions from collectable rates [Note 6]	179		288		278		217	||	-1,557 [r]
Of which transitional protection payments made to authorities [Note 2]	83		192		182		121	||	-1,654 [r]
Of which other deductions	96		96		96		96	||	97
Total Disregarded Amounts	155		148		199		220	||	304
Of which amounts retained in respect of Designated Areas [Note 7]	83		64		106		110	||	175
Of which amounts retained in respect of Renewable Energy schemes	72		85		93		109	||	129
Of which amounts retained in respect of Shale Gas	0		0		0		0	||	0
Non-domestic rating income from rates retention scheme (Net Rates yield less Accounting adjustments, Other deductions & Disregarded amounts)	25,344	||	12,968	||	20,442	||	22,919	||	25,126 [r]

Table:

Year	2019 to 2020	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023		2023 to 2024
Small business rate multiplier (pence)	49.1	49.9	49.9	49.9		49.9
National non-domestic rates multiplier (pence)	50.4	51.2	51.2	51.2		51.2
Number of hereditaments on rating list as at 30 Sept (`000s)	1,943	1,976	1,996	2,006		2,015
Total aggregate rateable value of all hereditaments on rating list as at 30 Sept (million pounds)	63,637	64,045	63,910	63,634	||	67,877

[r] Revised since the original release of this publication.
[Note 1] The transitional scheme for 2017-18 onwards expired in 2022-23. Therefore, for 2022-23, there are only transitional arrangements figures in respect of previous years. In 2022-23, authorities could give the same support to businesses using the supporting small business relief (a discretionary relief), and so what would normally be the cost of the transitional scheme is included in the Discretionary Reliefs figure.
[Note 2] From 2023-24 onwards, the transitional relief scheme changed so that it was fully funded by central government. In previous years authorities reported a net cost with the cost of revenue foregone by delaying increases to bills offset by additional income by delaying reductions to bills. From 2023-24 the cost only reflects the revenue foregone by delaying increases to bills.
[Note 3] Losses in collection comprise both losses in collection in-year relating to write-offs and additions reflecting authorities’ view of their need in future to write off bad debt – see Table 1a for more details of the large increase in 2020-21 and subsequent decrease in 2021-22.
[Note 4] Net addition to the appeals provision comprises both deductions relating to the use of the provision and additions reflecting authorities’ view of their need in future to make refunds to ratepayers as a result of changes to rating lists – see Table 1a for more details of the large increase in 2020-21.
[Note 5] Authorities have to account for interest on overpayments they have paid or credited to ratepayers following changes to rating lists. The rate of interest is set for any year at one percentage point below the standard rate at 15 March (or the next business day) in the preceding year. On 15 March 2023, the standard rate was 4.0%; therefore, the rate of interest to be applied for the rating year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 is 3.0%. In previous years, this has been 0%.
[Note 6] Other deductions from collectable rates includes an allowance for cost of collection & legal costs, a special authority deduction for the City of London, and the net cost of transitional protection payments made to authorities to reverse the effects of transitional arrangements.
[Note 7] Designated Areas comprises Enterprise Zones & New Development Deal areas.
[Note 8] In 2020-21 and to a lesser extent in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the coronavirus pandemic caused parts of the figures to be different from the norm. Discretionary reliefs were far higher than usual. This was driven mostly by the introduction of the retail, hospitality and leisure relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2022-23 by the COVID-19 additional relief paid in respect of 2021-22, but the presence of those reliefs may also have affected the levels of other reliefs. Therefore, the amount of net income and of discretionary reliefs is not comparable between years from 2019-20 onwards.
[Note 9] Revaluation applied from 1 April 2023 means that the data in this year is not comparable to previous years.

Table 1a: Further details of accounting adjustments on national non-domestic rates, 2019-20 to 2023-24

Year	2019 to 2020	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023		2023 to 2024
Losses in collection	301	822	136	176	||	162 [r]
Of which losses in collection in excess of the allowance [Note 1]	34	17	-3	11	||	-29
Of which change in allowance for losses in collection [Note 2]	267	805	139	165	||	191 [r]
Net addition to appeals provision	-54	870	-348	-366	||	-390 [r]
Of which amount charged in-year to appeals provision [Note 3]	-691	-693	-933	-1,086	||	-1,274 [r]
of which in relation to the 2010 ratings list	-257	-186	-168	-153	||	-69 [r]
of which in relation to the 2017 ratings list	-434	-508	-765	-934	||	-1,205 [r]
of which in relation to the 2023 ratings list	[z]	[z]	[z]	[z]	||	0
Of which change in appeals provision [Note 4]	637	1,564	585	721	||	883 [r]
of which in relation to the 2010 ratings list	100	30	-24	-70	||	-31
of which in relation to the 2017 ratings list	537	1,534	609	791	||	125 [r]
of which in relation to the 2023 ratings list	[z]	[z]	[z]	[z]	||	790 [r]

[r] Revised since the original release of this publication.
[Note 1] Sums written off as bad debt during the year in excess of the amount that authorities had already allowed for through their allowance for non-collection.
[Note 2] The increase in the allowance for non-collection (or ‘bad debt’) represents a deduction from authorities’ income for the year, reflecting their view of the sums currently unpaid by ratepayers that authorities believe they will never collect.
[Note 3] Authorities set aside money each year in provisions to enable them to finance backdated reductions to a ratepayer’s rates liabilities following an alteration to a rating list (usually as a result of appeals). Amounts charged against the provision in a year, following the alteration of a rating list, do not affect the authority’s income in that year and so are deducted from the total adjustment. Charges against the provision for the 2023 revaluation will not be applied until 2024-25.
[Note 4] Amounts added to the provision reduce an authority’s income for the year. The amounts added reflect authorities’ views of how much they need to set aside in respect of future reductions in the year’s rates liability, plus additions or reductions in respect of amounts already set aside in provisions for past years. In 2020-21 some of this change to the appeals provision was in respect of potential appeals for a ‘material change of circumstances’ in respect of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, the Valuation Office Authority ruled that the pandemic did not constitute a material change of circumstances, so in 2021-22 most of those amounts were subtracted from the provision.
[Note 5] Revaluation applied from 1 April 2023 means that the data in this year is not comparable to previous years.

3.1 Chart 1: Breakdown of Gross Rates Payable

Chart 1 shows how reliefs and other adjustments are deducted from gross rates payable to arrive at the net business rates income for 2023-24.

3.2 Chart 2: Business Rates over Time

Chart 2 shows that gross rates payable and net rates income were steadily increasing until the pandemic. Gross rates payable has been stable until 2022-23 because the business rates multiplier and number of businesses subject to rates remained stable. Revaluation in 2023 contributed to higher gross rates in 2023-24. Net income fell sharply due to the retail, hospitality and leisure relief introduced in response to the pandemic but has increased in the last three years due to changes in those reliefs.

3.3 Map 1: Net Rates Income in England

Data covering the amount of business rates income and reliefs granted for each local authority in England are in the tables accompanying this release. Map 1 provides an overview of how net business rates income in 2023-24 differs across England. Authorities have been split into five ranges of net business rates income with an equal number of authorities in each group.

3.4 Map 2: Net Rates Income in London

Map 2 provides an overview of how net business rates income in 2023-24 differs between local authorities in London. Authorities have been split into the same 5 ranges as in Map 1.

4. National non-domestic rate reliefs granted by local authorities

Table 2 shows figures for mandatory reliefs and discretionary reliefs granted by billing authorities. Mandatory reliefs are automatic entitlements in any billing authority area whereas discretionary reliefs are granted at a billing authority’s discretion. Chart 3 shows how the largest reliefs have changed since 2019-20.

• Of the £7.0 billion relief granted from business rates, £4.5 billion was mandatory relief (including small business rate relief) in 2023-24.
• Local authorities granted a total of £2.5 billion of discretionary relief in 2023-24. Of this £2.4 billion was funded through Section 31 grants.
• Total relief provided to charitable occupations (that is both mandatory and discretionary relief) amounted to £2.2 billion in respect of 2023-24.
• Authorities granted £1.9 billion of relief under the Small Business Rate relief scheme for 2023-24.
• Receipts from the supplement paid by some businesses (additional yield) to fund the Small Business Rate relief scheme in 2023-24 was £674 million.
• The amount of relief granted to empty premises in 2023-24 was £1.2 billion.
• The amount of retail, hospitality and leisure relief granted in 2023-24 was £2.3 billion.

Table 2: Cost of reliefs from national non-domestic rates, 2019-20 to 2023-24 (all figures £ million)

Year	2019 to 2020		2020 to 2021 [Note 6]		2021 to 2022 [Note 6]		2022 to 2023 [Note 6]		2023 to 2024 [Note 8]
Total cost of mandatory relief	4,487		4,733		5,005		4,891	||	4,539 [r]
Of which net cost of small business rate relief	1,416		1,601		1,617		1,675	||	1,368 [r]
Of which net cost of small business rate relief in respect of current year	1,338		1,470		1,535		1,585	||	1,273 [r]
Of which relief provided in year	1,970		2,100		2,161		2,211	||	1,947 [r]
Of which additional yield generated from the small business supplement	632		630		626		626	||	674 [r]
Of which net cost of small business rate relief in respect of previous years	77		131		82		90	||	95
Of which total cost of other mandatory relief	3,071		3,132		3,388		3,216	||	3,171 [r]
Of which total other mandatory relief in respect of current year	3,069		3,156		3,276		3,221	||	3,442 [r]
Of which charitable occupation	2,011		2,026		2,040		2,036	||	2,191 [r]
Of which community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)	21		22		22		22	||	21
Of which rural rate relief	4		4		4		4	||	3
Of which telecomms relief	0		0		2		[z]		[z]
Of which public lavatories relief	[z]		[z]		5		5	||	4
Of which partially occupied hereditaments	26		22		16		13	||	15
Of which empty premises	1,006		1,082		1,187		1,141	||	1,188 [r]
Of which other mandatory relief in respect of previous years [Note 1]	2		-24		113		-5	||	-252 [r]
Total cost of discretionary relief	603	||	11,302	||	5,270	||	2,794	||	2,482 [r]
Of which total cost of unfunded discretionary relief	115		99		107		109	||	99
Of which total cost of unfunded discretionary relief in respect of current year	112		98		101		103	||	100
Of which charitable occupation	48		42		45		48	||	48
Of which non-profit making bodies	37		31		33		36	||	37 [r]
Of which Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)	1		1		1		1	||	2
Of which rural shops etc	0		0		0		0	||	0
Of which small rural businesses	1		1		1		1	||	1
Of which other ratepayers under s47	22		20		20		16	||	12
Of which hardship relief	2		3		1		0	||	1
Of which unfunded discretionary relief in respect of previous years	3		1		6		5	||	-1
Of which total cost of discretionary reliefs funded through Section 31 grants	488		11,203		5,163		2,686	||	2,383 [r]
Of which total cost of discretionary reliefs funded through S31 grant in respect of current year [Note 2]	481	||	11,179	||	5,188	||	1,726	||	2,558 [r]
Of which flooding relief	2		1		0		0	||	1
Of which rural rate relief	4		4		4		4	||	3
Of which local newspaper temporary relief	0		0		0		0	||	0
Of which supporting small businesses relief [Note 3] [Note 7]	13		13		11		20	||	237 [r]
Of which discretionary scheme relief	30		3		[z]		[z]		[z]
Of which retail, hospitality and leisure relief [Note 4]	432	||	11,060	||	4,940	||	1,701	||	2,314 [r]
Of which nursery relief	[z]		98		63		[z]		[z]
Of which COVID-19 additional relief [Note 5]	[z]		[z]		171		[z]		[z]
Of which low carbon heat network relief	[z]		[z]		[z]		1	||	2
Of which discretionary reliefs funded through S31 grant in respect of previous years [Note 1]	7		25		-25		960	||	-175 [r]
Of which COVID-19 additional relief [Note 5]	[z]		[z]		[z]		1,056	||	-21
Of which all other discretionary reliefs funded through S31 grant	7		25		-25		-96	||	-154 [r]
TOTAL COST OF ALL RELIEFS	5,090	||	16,035	||	10,275	||	7,685	||	7,021 [r]

[r] Revised since the original release of this publication.
[Note 1] In 2021-22, the majority of the mandatory relief granted in respect of previous years was empty property relief. In 2022-23, the majority of discretionary relief granted in respect of previous years was COVID-19 additional relief which is reported separately due to the size. In 2023-24, the majority of the mandatory relief granted in respect of previous years was related to charity relief.
[Note 2] Some discretionary reliefs that are funded through Section 31 grants are time limited. Therefore, relief will only be given for a certain number of years.
[Note 3] In 2022-23, authorities could give support to businesses in lieu of transitional relief using the supporting small business relief (a discretionary relief), and so what would normally be the cost of the transitional scheme is included in the Discretionary Reliefs figure.
[Note 4] The discretionary section 31 funded reliefs include the retail, hospitality and leisure relief which changed in scope and amount of relief granted between years. In 2019-20 the retail discount relief, was a discount of one third of the non-domestic rates bill for retail shops, restaurants pubs and cinemas with a rateable value of £51,000 or less. In 2020-21 this was expanded in response to the coronavirus pandemic to provide a 100% relief to all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. In 2021-22 the relief gave a 100% discount for the first three months and then a 66% discount for the remaining months with a cap on the relief for each business of £105,000 per business, or £2 million per business where the business is in occupation of a property that was required, or would have been required, to close, based on the law and guidance applicable on 5 January 2021. In 2022-23 it was a 50% discount with a cap on the relief of £110,000 per business and in 2023-24 it was a 75% discount with the same cash cap. This change in coverage and amount of relief means that the retail, hospitality and leisure relief is not comparable across years.
[Note 5] The COVID-19 additional relief fund (CARF) was a discretionary relief scheme for 2021-22 only. The amount granted in 2021-22 is the amount granted up to the end of March 2022. The majority of the relief was granted in 2022-23 in respect of 2021-22 which is reported under the adjustments to reliefs in respect of previous years.
[Note 6] In 2020-21 and to a lesser extent in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the coronavirus pandemic caused parts of the figures to be different from the norm. Discretionary reliefs were far higher than usual. This was driven mostly by the introduction of the retail, hospitality and leisure relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2022-23 by the COVID-19 additional relief paid in respect of 2021-22, but the presence of those reliefs may also have affected the levels of other reliefs. Therefore, the amount of discretionary reliefs is not comparable between years from 2019-20 onwards.
[Note 7] From 2023-24, supporting small business relief will cap bill increases at £600 per year for businesses losing eligibility for or seeing reductions in Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) as a result of the 2023 business rates revaluation. This means there is a large increase in 2023-24 as the scheme applies to the new revaluation.
[Note 8] Revaluation applied from 1 April 2023 means that the data in this year is not comparable to previous years.

4.1 Chart 3: Business Rates Reliefs over Time

Chart 3 shows that business rates reliefs have decreased year-on-year since 2020-21, but the main driver of the recent changes in total relief is the retail, hospitality and leisure relief and the availability of the COVID-19 additional relief.

5. National non-domestic rate reliefs funded by Section 31 grants

A number of measures have been announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statements and Spring Budgets since 2012 that affect the national non-domestic rates scheme. Central government compensates local authorities for these changes and this compensation is made outside of the rate retention scheme by means of a Section 31 (S31) grant.

Table 3 shows the Section 31 grants paid to local authorities since 2019-20 to compensate them for the loss of income arising from the various national non-domestic rates measures shown below. They differ from the amounts shown in Table 2 which show the total amount of relief granted to business ratepayers under each of the measures. This is because this table reflects just the local authority share of retained business rates, which varies between 50% and 100%. Additionally, changes between years in this table are not directly comparable because these shares have changed in 2019-20, and 2020-21 due to rates retention pilots and increased retention as part of devolution deals.

• Local authorities were due a total of £5.4 billion in Section 31 grant in 2023-24, of which £2.7 billion related to compensation for capping the increase of the Small Business Rates multiplier, £1.0 billion related to compensation for doubling of the Small Business Rates relief and changes of eligibility thresholds, and £1.6 billion related to the retail, hospitality and leisure relief.

Table 3: National non-domestic rates measures funded by Section 31 grants, 2019-20 to 2023-24 (all figures £ million) [Note 1]

Year	2019 to 2020 [Note 7]		2020 to 2021 [Note 7] [Note 8]		2021 to 2022 [Note 8]		2022 to 2023 [Note 8]		2023 to 2024 [Note 9]
Capping the increase in the small business rates multiplier [Note 2]	583	||	326	||	668		1,466	||	2,692 [r]
Doubling of the small business rates multiplier and changes of eligibility thresholds	1,054	||	1,014	||	1,030		1,102	||	1,032 [r]
Public lavatories relief	[z]	||	[z]	||	5		3	||	3
Maintaining small business rates relief on “first” properties	3	||	5	||	4		4	||	3
Relief to newly built properties	0	||	0	||	0		0	||	0
Relief awarded on the occupation of “long-term empty” properties	0	||	0	||	0		0	||	0
Retail relief	6	||	4	||	4		-1	||	-6
Flooding relief	1	||	1	||	0		0	||	1
In Lieu of Transitional relief	0	||	0	||	0		1	||	0
Rural Rate relief	3	||	2	||	2		2	||	2
Local Newspaper Temporary relief	0	||	0	||	0		0	||	0
Supporting Small Businesses relief [Note 3] [Note 6]	9	||	8	||	7		13	||	167 [r]
Discretionary Scheme relief	21	||	-1	||	-1		-1	||	-1
Pub relief	0	||	0	||	0		0	||	0
Enterprise Zone relief provided in 100% Pilot Areas	5	||	3	||	3		2	||	1
Telecomms relief	0	||	0	||	3		0	||	0
Retail Discount relief [Note 4]	309	||	7,116	||	3,212	||	1,091	||	1,563 [r]
Nursery relief	[z]		62		42		1	||	0
COVID-19 additional relief [Note 5]	[z]		[z]		101		748	||	-16
Low carbon heat networks relief	[z]		[z]		[z]		1	||	2
Freeports relief	[z]		[z]		[z]		0	||	1
Additional growth in non-designated Freeports	[z]		[z]		[z]		0	||	1
Total amount of reliefs funded by Section 31 grants	1,991	||	8,541	||	5,079		4,432	||	5,446 [r]

[r] Revised since the original release of this publication.
[Note 1] Amounts of Section 31 grant due include amounts due in respect of reliefs granted in-year in respect of previous years. Once a relief has expired, amounts in this table relate only to relief granted in respect of previous years.
[Note 2] The relief in respect of capping the small business rates multiplier is particularly high in 2022-23 and 2023-24 as inflation increased more during 2022 than it did in the prior years. The cap was at the same level of 49.9p in 2022-23 and 2023-24 as in previous years. This means the difference between the multiplier and what it would have been without the cap increased more than usual in those years.
[Note 3] In 2022-23, authorities could give support to businesses in lieu of transitional relief using the supporting small business relief (a discretionary relief), and so what would normally be the cost of the transitional scheme is compensated for as a section 31 payment in respect of the supporting small business relief.
[Note 4] The discretionary section 31 funded reliefs include the retail, hospitality and leisure relief which changed in scope and amount of relief granted between years. In 2019-20 the retail discount relief, was a discount of one third of the non-domestic rates bill for retail shops, restaurants pubs and cinemas with a rateable value of £51,000 or less. In 2020-21 this was expanded in response to the coronavirus pandemic to provide a 100% relief to all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. In 2021-22 the relief gave a 100% discount for the first three months and then a 66% discount for the remaining months with a cap on the relief for each business of £105,000 per business, or £2 million per business where the business is in occupation of a property that was required, or would have been required, to close, based on the law and guidance applicable on 5 January 2021. In 2022-23 it was a 50% discount with a cap on the relief of £110,000 per business and in 2023-24 it was a 75% discount with the same cash cap. This change in coverage and amount of relief means that the retail, hospitality and leisure relief is not comparable across years.
[Note 5] The COVID-19 additional relief fund (CARF) was a discretionary relief scheme for 2021-22 only. The amount granted in 2021-22 is the amount granted up to the end of March 2022. The majority of the relief was granted in 2022-23 in respect of 2021-22, which is compensated for by Section 31 grant in 2022-23.
[Note 6] From 2023-24, supporting small business relief will cap bill increases at £600 per year for businesses losing eligibility for or seeing reductions in Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) as a result of the 2023 business rates revaluation. This means there is a large increase in 2023-24 as the scheme applies to the new revaluation.
[Note 7] Since 2017-18 some authorities have been able to retain more than a 50% share of income. The amount of share and authorities involved change from year to year from 2019-20 to 2020-21, and so annual figures in those are not directly comparable.
[Note 8] In 2020-21 and to a lesser extent in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the coronavirus pandemic caused parts of the figures to be different from the norm. Discretionary reliefs were far higher than usual. This was driven mostly by the introduction of the retail, hospitality and leisure relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2022-23 by the COVID-19 additional relief paid in respect of 2021-22, but the presence of those reliefs may also have affected the levels of other reliefs and hence the Section 31 grants due.
[Note 9] Revaluation applied from 1 April 2023 means that the data in this year is not comparable to previous years.

6. Accompanying tables and open data

6.1 Symbols used

[r] = revised since the original publication of this data
[z] = not relevant
0 = zero or negligible (below £0.5 million)
|| = a discontinuity in data between years (see Excel tables for more details)

6.2 Rounding

Where figures have been rounded, there may be a slight discrepancy between the total and the sum of constituent parts.

6.3 Tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release. These include Tables 1 to 3 for England and a copy of the NNDR3 form with the national-level and local authority-level figures for each cell.

6.4 Open data

These statistics are available in fully open and linkable data formats online.

6.5 Technical Notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.
Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.
Information about statistics at MHCLG is available via the Department’s website.