Explanatory notes
Non-Domestic Rates
Non-Domestic Rates, or business rates, collected by local authorities are the way that those who occupy non-domestic property contribute towards the cost of local services. Under the business rates retention arrangements introduced from 1 April 2013, authorities keep a proportion of the business rates paid locally.
The money, together with revenue from council tax payers, locally generated income and grants from central government, is used to pay for the services provided by local authorities in your area. Further information about the business rates system may be obtained at GOV.UK introduction to business rates and on our Business rates webpage.
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Business Rates Instalments
Payment of business rate bills is automatically set on a 10-monthly cycle. However, the Government has put in place regulations that allow ratepayers to require their local authority to enable payments to be made through 12 monthly instalments.
If you wish to take up this offer, you should contact Cherwell District Council as soon as possible.
National Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier
The local authority works out the business rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate non-domestic multiplier. There are two multipliers: the standard non-domestic rating multiplier and the small business non-domestic rating multiplier. The Government sets the multipliers for each financial year, except in the City of London where special arrangements apply.
Ratepayers who occupy a property with a rateable value which does not exceed £50,999 (and who are neither entitled to certain other mandatory relief[s] nor liable for unoccupied property rates) will have their bills calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier (49.9p), rather than the standard non-domestic rating multiplier (51.2p).
Both multipliers for a financial year are based on the previous year's multiplier adjusted to reflect the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figure for the September prior to the billing year, unless a lower multiplier is set by the government.
The current multipliers are shown on the front of your bill.
Rateable Value
Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an agency of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. They compile and maintain a full list of all rateable values.
The rateable value of your property is shown on the front of your bill. This broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date specified in legislation. For the current rating list, this date was set as 1 April 2021.
The VOA may alter the valuation if circumstances change. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can also check and challenge the valuation shown in the list if they believe it is wrong.
Further information about the grounds on which challenges may be made and the process for doing so can be obtained by contacting the VOA, or by consulting the VOA website - check your rateable value is correct.
Revaluations
All non-domestic property rateable values are reassessed at revaluations. The most recent revaluation took effect from 1 April 2023. Revaluations ensure that business rates bills are up-to-date and more accurately reflect current rental values and relative changes in rents. Frequent revaluations ensure the system continues to be responsive to changing economic conditions.
Business Rate Reliefs
Depending on individual circumstances, a ratepayer may be eligible for a rate relief (i.e. a reduction in their business rates bill). There are a range of available reliefs. Further details are provided below and at GOV.UK introduction to business rates and on our Business rates webpage.
Small Business Rates Relief
If a ratepayer’s sole or main property has a rateable value which does not exceed a set threshold, the ratepayer may receive a percentage reduction in their rates bill for the property of up to a maximum of 100 per cent. The level of reduction will depend on the rateable value of the property. For example eligible properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less will receive 100 per cent relief. Eligible properties between £12,001 but less than £15,000 will receive partial tapered relief.
The relevant thresholds for relief are set by the Government by order and can be obtained from GOV.UK introduction to business rates and on our Business rates webpage.
Generally, these percentage reductions (reliefs) are only available to ratepayers who occupy either:
a) one property, or
b) one main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have a rateable value which does not exceed the limit set by order.
The aggregate rateable value of all the properties mentioned in (b), must also not exceed an amount set by order. For those businesses that take on an additional property which would normally have meant the loss of small business rate relief, they will be allowed to keep that relief for a fixed additional period.
Full details on the relevant limits in relation to second properties and the current period for which a ratepayer may continue to receive relief after taking on an additional property can be obtained from our our Business rates webpage or GOV.UK introduction to business rates.
Certain changes in circumstances will need to be notified to the local authority by the ratepayer who is in receipt of relief (other changes will be picked up by the local authority). The changes which should be notified are:
a) the property falling vacant,
b) the ratepayer taking up occupation of an additional property, or
c) an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer in an area other than the area of the local authority which granted the relief.
Charity and Community Amateur Sports Club Relief
Charities and registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs are entitled to 80 per cent relief where the property is occupied by the charity or the club and is wholly or mainly used for the charitable purposes of the charity (or of that and other charities), or for the purposes of the club (or of that and other clubs).
The local authority has discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill. Full details can be obtained from Cherwell District Council.
Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Scheme
A 75 per cent discount is available to qualifying businesses up to a maximum of £110,000 per business. The relief is subject to cash cap and subsidy limits.
Further information can be found at GOV.UK - retail hospitality and leisure scheme.
Low Carbon Heat Network
In October 2021, the government announced a 100 per cent relief for eligible low-carbon heat networks that have their own rates bill effective from 1 April 2023.
At the Spring Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced that the heat network relief will apply from 1 April 2022 so, for the financial year 2022/23, will be delivered using local government discretionary relief powers funded by the government.
Guidance about the Business rates heat network relief was published on 21 July 2022.
Supporting Small Business
At the 2022 Autumn Statement on 17 November, the Chancellor announced that the 2023 Supporting Small Business scheme, the scheme will cap bill increases at £600 per year for business losing eligibility for some or all Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief at the 2023 revaluation.
Rate Relief for Businesses in Rural Areas
Certain types of properties in a rural settlement with a population below 3,000 may be entitled to a discount. The property must be the only general store, the only post office or a food shop and have a rateable value of less than £8,500, or the only public house or the only petrol station and have a rateable value of less than £12,500. The property has to be occupied. An eligible ratepayer is entitled to relief at 50 per cent of the full charge whilst local authorities are expected to use their local discount powers to grant 100 per cent rural rate relief to eligible ratepayers. Full details can be obtained from the local authority.
Transitional Rate Relief
At a revaluation, some ratepayers will see reductions or no change in their bill whereas some ratepayers will see increases.
Transitional relief schemes are introduced at each revaluation to help those facing increases.
Transitional relief is applied automatically to bills. Further information about transitional arrangements and other reliefs may be obtained from our Business rates webpage or GOV.UK introduction to business rates.
Further information can be found at GOV.UK apply for business rate relief/transitional relief.
Local Discounts and Hardship Relief
Local authorities have a general power to grant discretionary local discounts and to give hardship relief in specific circumstances. Full details are available on our business rates reductions and relief webpage.
Unoccupied Property Rating
Business rates are generally payable in respect of unoccupied non-domestic property. However, they are generally not payable for the first three months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial premises, whilst certain other properties such as vacant listed buildings are not liable for business rates until they are reoccupied.
Full details on exemptions can be obtained from our business rates reductions and relief webpage or from GOV.UK apply for business rate relief.
Subsidy Control
The new UK subsidy control regime commenced from 4 January 2023. The new regime enables public authorities, including devolved administrations and local authorities, to deliver subsidies that are tailored for local needs.
Public authorities giving subsidies must comply with the UK’s international subsidy control commitments. The subsidy control legislation provides the framework for a new, UK-wide subsidy control regime.
Further information about subsidy control can be found on the GOV.UK website - subsidy control regime.
Rating Advisers
Ratepayers do not have to be represented in discussions about the rateable value of their property or their rates bill. However, ratepayers who do wish to be represented should be aware that members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS - website www.rics.org) and the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV - website www.irrv.org.uk) are qualified and are regulated by rules of professional conduct designed to protect the public from misconduct.
Before you employ a rating adviser or company you should check that they have the necessary knowledge and expertise, as well as appropriate indemnity insurance. Take great care and, if necessary, seek further advice before entering into any contract.
Information Supplied with Demand Notices
Information relating to the relevant and previous financial years in regard to the gross expenditure of the local authority is available on our finance and transparency webpage.
A hard copy is available on request by writing to the local authority or at 01295 227000.
Bill Enquiries
This bill is based on the entry in the Rating List which is prepared by the District Valuer at the Valuation Office who is entirely independent of the billing authority. If your enquiry is about the valuation given to your property, you need to contact the Valuation Office Agency.
Change in circumstances
You must notify Cherwell District Council of any material change in circumstances that will affect the charge such as moving premises, altering, extending or subdividing the premises, changing the use of the premises, winding up the business or changing its trading name or anything else which may affect your liability for Non-Domestic Rates.