Advice on claiming these discounts is available free from us. You do not need to employ expensive rating advisors who will usually charge a percentage of any reduction they may secure for you, and in some cases could end up increasing your rates bill.
Retail Hospitality & Leisure Discount for 2024-25
The government has announced the continuation of the business rates relief scheme to provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties in 2024/25 with a 75% discount to be applied after mandatory reliefs and other discretionary reliefs, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business. Where a business has a qualifying connection with another business it will be treated as one for the purposes of this cash cap.
Full details of the scheme can be found on the www.gov.uk website.
Using the information we hold, if you qualify for the discount it will be automatically added to your account and will show on your 2024/25 Annual Bill. If the the discount has been applied to your bill and you would like it removed please contact us at businessrates@epsom-ewell.gov.uk and we will remove the discount and issue a revised notice.
If having read the full guidance on the www.gov.uk website you feel that you qualify for the discount, but it has not been applied to your bill, please contact us at businessrates@epsom-ewell.gov.uk.
Any discount awarded under this scheme would come under the scope of Subsidy control regulations. Please see our Subsidy Allowances page for details.
Please note this discount is only applicable to occupied properties from 01 April 2023 to 31 March 2025
Small Business Rate Relief
SBRR is available at 100% for ratepayers occupying single properties with a rateable value up to £12,000. Ratepayers with a rateable value over £12,000, but under £15,000, will receive tapered relief from 100% decreasing to 0%.
The relief is only available to ratepayers with either:
(a) one property, or
(b) one main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have rateable values less than £2,900.
The rateable value of the property mentioned in (a), or the aggregate rateable value of all properties mentioned in (b), must be under £20,000.
From April 2014 however, ratepayers currently receiving SBRR that take on an additional property which would have previously disqualified them from receiving relief, will continue to receive their existing relief for 12 months.
The scheme is funded through a supplement on the rate bills of those businesses not eligible for relief. The supplement is built into the standard Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier. However, ratepayers of eligible business properties with rateable values between £15,000 and £51,000, do not have to contribute towards the relief and have their bills calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier.
A condition of entitlement to SBRR will be that the ratepayer must notify us of any changes in circumstances, that may affect their entitlement to the relief, within four weeks of the day after the change occurred. This can include:
- Increases in rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer which is not in the area of the billing authority granting Small Business Rate Relief
- The ratepayer coming into occupation of any property not mentioned in their application for relief (a new application form will need to be completed).
If these changes result in the ratepayer being no longer eligible for SBRR, it will end from the date of change. If relief is still applicable, it will be reassessed and granted.
If the ratepayer however, is still eligible for relief but did not notify the us of the changes within four weeks from the day following the date of change, relief will not be granted between the date of change and the date the ratepayer notifies us in writing.
For further information or to apply Small Business Rate Relief please complete our SBRR Application Form and e-mail it to businessrates@epsom-ewell.gov.uk.
Rate relief for charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)
Occupied properties
Where a non-domestic property is occupied by a charity (or trustees for a charity), and is used wholly or mainly for charitable purposes, the charity or trustees are entitled to mandatory rate relief of 80% of the full rate bill or of the transitional bill where the transitional arrangements apply.
Clubs registered with the Inland Revenue Sports Club Unit as Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) are entitled to the same rate relief as charities.
Unoccupied properties
Mandatory relief may also be granted in respect of unoccupied properties. Where the ratepayer is a charity or trustees of a charity and it appears that when next in use the property will be wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities), the property is exempt from business rates.
The question of whether an organisation is a charity or not, is usually resolved by reference to the register of charities maintained by the Charity Commissioners. Absence from the register does not mean that an organisation is not a charity, because it may be excepted from the register.
Discretionary rate relief
The Council can grant discretionary relief to:
- Registered charities up to 20% (as registered charities organisations are already eligible for 80% rate relief). Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) that have registered with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs, fall into this category
- Other charitable organisations or institutions that are not established for profit and whose main objectives are charitable, otherwise philanthropic, religious or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts (up to 100% at our discretion)
- Properties occupied by not-for-profit sports, social clubs, societies, or other organisations for the purpose of recreation (up to 100% at our discretion)
- "Hardship" relief, where the ratepayer is experiencing difficulty paying and it is in the best interest of our Council Tax payers to grant relief (up to 100% at our discretion).
Any award of this relief would come under the scope of State Aid and/or Subsidy Allowances. Please see our State Aid and Subsidy Allowances page for details.
If you wish to apply for discretionary relief, please contact the business rates team at businessrates@epsom-ewell.gov.uk.
Transitional 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.
A new scheme has been put in place which will take affect from the 1 April 2023, for the 2023 Revaluation and if you qualify for the relief it will be automatically added to your bill.
Supporting small businesses relief
This scheme which will run for Three years, supports ratepayers who lost all or part of their small business rate relief following the 2023 revaluation. If you qualify for this relief, it will be automatically granted and shown on you latest bill bill will be issued to you.
Eligible ratepayers remain in the scheme for either three years or until they reach the bill amount they would have paid without the scheme. Eligibility will be lost if the property becomes unoccupied or is occupied by a charity or community amateur sports club.
For the first year of the scheme the increase is taken against the bill for 31 March 2023 after small business rate relief has been applied, if applicable.
All eligible ratepayers losing some or all of their small business rate relief will see the increase in their bill capped at £600 for the first year of the scheme, with a minimum increase of £600 per year thereafter.
Full details of the scheme are available in from the .gov.uk website
Any award of this relief would come under the scope of State Aid and/or Subsidy Allowances. Please see our Subsidy Allowances page for details.
Other relief
There are a number of other business rates relief which are not applicable in Epsom & Ewell but if you would like further information please visit the GOV.UK website.