UK business rates in 2026/27: five multipliers, one revaluation, and a relief scheme that just changed shape
Photo by David Walker | Walker Design Co. · Unsplash
A 2026 revaluation, a permanent split into five multipliers, and the end of the old retail relief scheme have all landed on business rates bills at once. Here is how the number on the bill is actually built.
A business rates bill is worked out from one formula — rateable value multiplied by a multiplier — and for 2026/27 that multiplier is 48.0p in the pound for most businesses, or 43.2p for eligible small businesses. What changed for 2026/27 is not the formula but the number of multipliers behind it: a revaluation of every property's rateable value took effect on 1 April 2026, and the old two-multiplier system was replaced at the same time with five, splitting standard and small business rates further by whether a property is used for retail, hospitality or leisure. A shop, a warehouse and an office with an identical rateable value can now land on noticeably different bills.
The basic formula: rateable value × multiplier
Rateable value is the Valuation Office Agency's estimate of a property's open-market annual rental value on a fixed valuation date, updated periodically at a general revaluation — the latest took effect on 1 April 2026. A business's own bill starts from multiplying that figure by whichever multiplier applies to it, before any relief is deducted. HMRC's and the Valuation Office Agency's own worked example, for a dental surgery with a rateable value of £60,000 using the standard 48.0p multiplier, gives £60,000 × 0.48 = £28,800 for the year — set out on GOV.UK's guide to estimating business rates. Local councils bill and collect the money, but the multipliers themselves are set nationally and apply the same figure across England regardless of which council sends the bill.
The five multipliers in force for 2026/27
| Multiplier | Applies to | Rateable value band | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small business | Most properties | Under £51,000 | 43.2p |
| Standard | Most properties | £51,000 to £499,999 | 48.0p |
| Small RHL | Retail, hospitality, leisure | Under £51,000 | 38.2p |
| Standard RHL | Retail, hospitality, leisure | £51,000 to £499,999 | 43.0p |
| High value | All properties | £500,000 and above | 50.8p |
These are the figures confirmed in the government's own notification of non-domestic rating multipliers for 2026/27 and repeated on the GOV.UK business rates estimator. The retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers run exactly 5p below their non-RHL equivalents at every rateable value band — a qualifying restaurant with a rateable value of £40,000 pays £40,000 × 0.382 = £15,280 rather than the £17,280 a non-qualifying business at the same rateable value would pay on the small business multiplier.
Why there are five multipliers now, not two
Until 2025/26, England ran on two multipliers — standard and small business — with retail, hospitality and leisure businesses getting a separate, temporary discount worth 40% off their bill, capped at £110,000 per business, renewed one year at a time since it was introduced during the pandemic. That scheme ended on 31 March 2026. GOV.UK's own guidance on the old relief now states plainly that no new claims can be made, and that from 1 April 2026 qualifying businesses instead get their discount built directly into a permanently lower multiplier rather than applied afterward as a percentage-off relief. The practical effect is similar — a qualifying shop, pub or gym still pays less than a non-qualifying business at the same rateable value — but the discount is now structural rather than something renewed, or not, at each Budget.
Small Business Rate Relief: full relief up to £12,000
Separately from which multiplier applies, a business occupying a single property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less pays no business rates at all in 2026/27, under Small Business Rate Relief. Between £12,001 and £14,999, relief tapers on a sliding scale from 100% down to nothing at £15,000, set out on GOV.UK's small business rate relief page, which gives worked examples of 50% relief at a rateable value of £13,500 and 33% relief at £14,000. A business taking on a second property keeps full relief on its main property for 12 months if the second property was acquired before 27 November 2025, or 36 months if acquired on or after that date; after that, relief continues only if no other property has a rateable value above £2,899 and the combined rateable value of all properties stays under £20,000 nationally, or £28,000 in London.
What the same formula produces at different rateable values
| Property | Rateable value | Multiplier used | Basic bill | Relief | Payable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small shop | £10,000 | 43.2p | £4,320 | 100% SBRR | £0 |
| Small shop | £13,500 | 43.2p | £5,832 | 50% SBRR taper | £2,916 |
| Office | £60,000 | 48.0p | £28,800 | None | £28,800 |
| Warehouse | £600,000 | 50.8p | £304,800 | None | £304,800 |
The pattern worth noticing: relief and the choice of multiplier are two separate mechanisms that happen to stack for the smallest properties. A rateable value of £10,000 already gets the lower small business multiplier before Small Business Rate Relief removes the bill entirely — the relief does the heavy lifting at the bottom of the scale, while the multiplier split matters most for mid-sized RHL properties that are too large for full relief but still under £51,000.
The 2026 revaluation, and a cap on how fast bills can rise
Rateable values themselves were updated across England and Wales from 1 April 2026, reflecting rental values at a more recent valuation date than the previous list. Where a revaluation pushes a rateable value up sharply, or above the £12,000 or £15,000 Small Business Rate Relief thresholds for the first time, the government has extended the Supporting Small Business relief scheme for a further year from 1 April 2026, capping how much a bill can increase year-on-year for businesses that lose relief because of the revaluation rather than because their trading changed. Any business unsure whether its rateable value has changed can look it up directly, and start a formal challenge if it looks wrong, through GOV.UK's find-a-business-rates-valuation service.
Who sends the bill, and when
The multiplier and any relief only produce a figure — it is the local council the property sits in, not HMRC or the Valuation Office Agency, that actually bills and collects business rates. GOV.UK's own overview confirms councils send the bill for the coming tax year in February or March, ahead of the 1 April start date, typically spread over several monthly payments through the year rather than due as one lump sum. Because councils administer collection locally, exact payment options, direct debit arrangements and what happens if an instalment is missed can vary slightly council to council, which is why a bill that looks wrong, or a property that has become empty or changed occupier partway through the year, is worth raising with the issuing council directly rather than assumed to self-correct.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Business rates — overview
- GOV.UK: Estimate your business rates
- GOV.UK: Notification of non-domestic rating multipliers for 2026/27
- GOV.UK: Small business rate relief
- GOV.UK: Retail, hospitality and leisure relief
- GOV.UK: Find a business rates valuation
This is general information, not tax or valuation advice. Rules vary for Wales and Scotland, which are not covered here, and additional reliefs (charitable relief, rural rate relief, hardship relief, empty property relief) apply in specific circumstances not covered above. For a bill that seems wrong, or for advice on relief eligibility, speak to your local council or a qualified rating adviser.