Our Discretionary Relief Policy contains information about how discretionary reductions are dealt with.
Occupied premises
Occupied premises may be eligible for certain reductions including;
Unoccupied premises
When a non-domestic property becomes empty, there is no charge for the first three months, or six months in the case of industrial property.
After the initial rate-free period has expired, the empty property will be charged 100% of the business rates.
There are certain exemptions from the empty charge which include listed buildings and properties with a rateable value of less than £2,900.
If you believe that your premises are unoccupied and vacant please submit an application here
Partly-occupied premises
If only parts of your property are unoccupied, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) may be able to value the unoccupied property separately. The rule about charging after three or six months will then apply to the unoccupied property. If the VOA can't value the unoccupied parts separately, you may still be able to claim some relief under Section 44a of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, which deals with relief on part-occupied properties.