Empty property relief
On 1 April 2008, the rules for charging the business rate on empty property
changed. For the first three months that a non-industrial property is empty, no rates are payable. For industrial property this period is six months.
Thereafter 100% of the rate is payable.
Other exemptions from the empty rate continue for:
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Listed buildings but not locally listed properties
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Properties with a rateable value less than £2,200
From 1 April 2009 until 31 March 2010, empty properties with rateable values less than £15,000 will be exempt from payment of the empty property rate.
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Empty properties held by a charity or a community amateur sports club.
Where part of a property is empty for a short time it may be possible, at the Council's discretion, for the exemption period to be applied on the empty portion.
Mandatory relief for charities and community amateur sports clubs
A mandatory reduction of 80% of the rate bill can be granted to registered
charities, or charitable organisations which are exempt from registration with
the Charity Commission. This applies where the property is used for
charitable purposes.
Mandatory and discretionary relief application form [PDF] (35k)
Mandatory and discretionary rate relief application notes [PDF] (41k)
Sports clubs must be registered as a Community Amateur Sports Club with the Inland Revenue to qualify for rate reductions. For more information visit the link below.
Mandatory relief for certain businesses in specific rural areas
A reduction of 50% of the rate bill can be granted to the following types of
business, providing the relevant criteria are met and the business is the sole
supplier in a designated rural settlement:
Post Offices and General Stores with a rateable value less than £7,000.
Food Shops with a rateable value less than £7,000.
Public Houses and Petrol Filling Stations with a rateable value less than
£10,500.
Mandatory and discretionary relief application form [PDF] (35K)
Mandatory and discretionary rate relief application notes [PDF] (41k)
Discretionary relief for charities and not-for-profit organisations
A reduction of up to 100% of the rate bill can be granted, at the Council’s
discretion, to:
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Charities
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Organisations not established or conducted for profit whose main
objectives are charitable, or philanthropic, or religious, or concerned with
education, or concerned with social welfare, or concerned with science,
literature or the fine arts.
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Clubs, societies, or other organisations not established or conducted for
profit, which occupy premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of
recreation.
Mandatory and discretionary relief application form [PDF] (35k)
Mandatory and discretionary rate relief application notes [PDF] (41k)
Discretionary Relief for certain businesses in specific rural areas
A reduction of up to 100% of the rate bill can be granted, at the Council's discretion, to businesses in a designated rural settlement with a rateable
value less than £14,000.
Mandatory and discretionary relief application form [PDF] (35k)
Mandatory and discretionary rate relief application notes [PDF] (41k)
Hardship relief
A reduction of up to 100% of the rate bill can be granted, at the Council’s
discretion, to businesses facing hardship which are considered to be of
importance to the community, and where it is in the interests of Council Tax
payers for relief to be granted.
Small business rate relief
Businesses with a single property in England,with a rateable value less than £15,000, can be granted small business rate relief.
Where the rateable value is over £10,000 but less than £15,000 the business
will qualify for an exclusion from the small business rate supplement which is set each year by the government.
Where the rateable value is between £5,000 and £10,000 the business will
qualify for relief in addition to an exclusion from payment of the small business
rate supplement. The reduction is a percentage of the rateable value, ranging
from 1% where the value is £9,900 to 50% where the value is £5,000.
Businesses that occupy more than one property are also eligible providing the other properties have rateable values less than £2,200 and the combined rateable values of all their other properties does not exceed £15,000.
The small business rate relief scheme has been altered and from 1 April 2009 the property in respect of which relief is requested no longer needs to appear in the rating list on the first day of the financial year for which relief is requested.
Small business rate relief application form and notes [PDF] (39k)
Transitional relief
This is applied automatically to your account. You do not need to apply for it.
For further details on reliefs and reductions, please contact:
Business Rates
Revenue and Payments Services
Guildford Borough Council
Millmead House
Millmead
Guildford
GU2 4BB
Tel: 01483 444872
Fax: 01483 444866
Email: brates@guildford.gov.uk