The government introduced a new transitional scheme from 1 April 2026 following the national revaluation of all non-domestic properties.
Rateable values
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), HMRC, carried out a national revaluation of all business rateable values (RV) that came into effect from 1 April 2026.
The rateable value is based on rental values so if rents have increased above inflation since the last revaluation, rates will likely go up. If rents have decreased after inflation, rates will likely go down.
The VOA assess rents across a sector. If you think the rateable value is wrong, contact the VOA.
Limits
The amount a bill can go up following revaluation is limited each year under the government's transitional scheme.
The percentage limits are based on your rateable value on 1 April 2026. The maximum increase allowed under transition from the full rates payable based solely on the rateable value at 31 March 2026 times the multiplier that applied on 31 March 2026 are shown below.
Maximum increase (bill gone up) from 2025 to 2026, solely due to the revaluation, for 2026 to 2027 is:
- rateable value £20,000 or under: 5%
- rateable value £20,001 to £100,000: 15%
- rateable value £100,001 or over: 30%
For 2026 to 2027, an additional rateable value x 1p supplement also applies to bills to help fund transitional arrangements. However, if the total transitional relief on your bill is greater than the supplement then the supplement does not affect your bill (so no supplement in effect is payable). This is because the transitional relief would include the full supplement amount, as the supplement does not affect the maximum increase allowed under transition.
If you have lost small business rate relief or received retail, hospitality and leisure discount in 2025 to 2026, in addition to transition, a separate limit may apply to the increase in your bill under the Ggovernment funded supporting small business relief.
Transition will continue in 2027 to 2028 and 2028 to 2029 until your rateable value multiplied by the appropriate multiplier is, after inflation, less than the maximum increase allowed. At this point transition will no longer apply. For information the maximum increases in 2027 to 2028 and 2028 to 2029 are shown below:
The maximum increase from 2026 to 2027, solely due to the revaluation, for 2027 to 2028 is:
• rateable value £20,000 or under: 10%, plus inflation
• rateable value £20,001 to £100,000: 25%, plus inflation
• rateable value £100,001 or over: 25%, plus inflation
The maximum increase from 2027 to 2028, solely due to the revaluation, for 2028 to 2029 is:
• rateable value £20,000 or under: 25%, plus inflation
• rateable value £20,001 to £100,000: 40%, plus inflation
• rateable value £100,001 or over: 25%, plus inflation
For more information see GOV.UK: transitional relief.
Calculating transitional relief
You can use our calculator to view a breakdown of how transitional relief has been calculated:
This will not take account of any changes to your rateable value since the revaluation came into effect and may not include all discounts or relief that may show on your bill.
If the calculation does not match the transitional calculation on your bill and you do not know the reason why please contact us:
Business rates general enquiry on My Account
If your rateable value is under £15,000 you may be entitled to small business rate relief. Visit GOV.UK: small business rate relief for more information.
Increases in your rateable value for any reason, other than due to the revaluation, are not subject to transition.
In certain circumstances the rateable values used for transition can be different to the actual rateable values in force.