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Rates revaluation - what’s the impact?

1 April 2023 changes

The next nationwide business rates revaluation is to take place on 1 April 2023, placing new rateable values on all 2.14 million properties liable for business rates. The new figures will be based on rental levels prevailing in April 2021. Therefore, the new rateable values will reflect changes in rental values between 2015 and 2021. With the current rateable values being based on rental levels prevailing seven years ago, there are likely to be big swings in liability change following the 2023 revaluation. The biggest changes will probably be seen in the hotel and retail sectors, where significant reductions in liability are anticipated, while other properties in parts of the logistics and industrial sector are expected to see substantial increases.

Forecasting the changes

The rateable value for your property is not what you pay in business rates or rent. Your local council uses the rateable value to calculate your business rates bill.

Tip. If your property is in England or Wales, you can check the new rateable value for your business premises and the factual information used for your valuation by using the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) online search facility (see The next step ).

Tip. Having found the April 2023 rateable value, you’ll be able to obtain an estimate of what your business rates will actually be which you can then enter into your forecasts.

Note. The Autumn Statement 2022 announced that the business rates multipliers will be frozen at 49.9p for occupied properties with a rateable value of less than £51,000 and 51.2p for all other properties. The government also announced a £1.6 billion scheme to cap bill increases for businesses who will see higher bills as a result of the rates revaluation .

Tip. If you’re facing a significant increase in rateable value, check that your council is correctly applying the transitional relief to your rates bill.

Challenging a decision

You can challenge a VOA valuation if:

• the valuation was wrong when the rating list was created
• there’s been a change to the property or area that should be shown in the rateable value, e.g. long-running roadworks
• a change made to the valuation by the VOA is wrong, or hasn’t been made
• the property has been incorrectly split into more than one listing or combined with others into a single listing
• the property details are wrong or incomplete; or
• the valuation is wrong due to a legal decision on another property.

Tip. You can appeal against the rateable value online by registering for a business rates valuation account.

Tip. A property’s rateable value can be affected by neighbouring commercial properties. The online tool allows you to see neighbouring premises’ valuations - all you need is the postcode or street address. This feature is also handy if you’re considering relocating.

VOA online search facility