Business rates forms and reliefs

On this page we provide information about business rates reliefs, and forms to apply for relief, to make a payment, or to tell us about changes that may affect your business rates.

Change of occupier

If you move into new premises, or move out of your premises, or change our property, you need to tell us.

• Download Moving in form (Word 27kb)
• Download Moving out form (Word 27kb)
• Download New Altered property form (Word 27kb)

Methods of payment

• Download NNDR Direct Debit form (pdf 136KB)

Visit the pay a bill page to make a payment or for more information about payment methods.

Retail Hospitality and Leisure

From April 2026, the government is introducing two lower business rates multipliers for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) properties (hereditaments) with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000:

• Small business Retail Hospitality & Leisure multiplier: 38.2p – businesses with Rateable Value (RV) below £51,000
• Standard RHL multiplier: 43.0p – businesses with RV between £51,000 and £499,999

The new RHL multipliers will be 5p below their national equivalents. This is a permanent tax cut worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefitting over 750,000 RHL properties. Unlike the current RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability. The Government is also providing further support to ratepayers losing Small Business Rates Relief, Rural Rate Relief, the Supporting Small Business scheme, and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief.

Further information can be found here:

Business Rates Multipliers: Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure - GOV.UK

Information on all five multipliers from 2026/27 can be found here:

Business Rates multipliers 2026 27

Discretionary Retail Discount

Effective 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 - Extended Retail Discount

The Council has adopted a new Local Rate Relief Policy in response to the Autumn Budget on 30^th October 2024, when the Chancellor announced the extension of the business rates relief scheme for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, worth an estimated £1.5 billion in 2025/26.

This will provide businesses with the necessary interim support until the introduction of the permanently lower tax rates for RHL properties, including those on the high street, from 2026/27.

The 2025/26 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme will provide eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 40% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.

Businesses may choose to opt out of receiving the support by notifying the Business Rates team via email at business.rates@westlancs.gov.uk

If you require additional information in relation to the scheme, full details can be found by clicking the link below:

Business Rates Relief: 2025/26 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Scheme - GOV.UK

Alternatively, please contact the Business Rates team via email at business.rates@westlancs.gov.uk

Please note applications for relief during the 2025/26 scheme must be made by 30 September 2026.

How to apply

A written application for a discount award under this policy is required. The application form must be made on the form designed for this purpose which is below:

Retail Discount form 2025 2026 (word 65kb)

Pub and Live Music Venue Relief

The government have announced that from April 2026 to March 2027, eligible pubs and live music venues will benefit from a 15% business rates relief on top of the support announced at Budget 2025. Their bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further 2 years.

You can find details about eligibility on GOV.UK.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pubs-and-live-music-venues-relief

You do not need to apply for this relief. If you qualify, we will apply it to your account automatically. If you think you are entitled to the relief but haven’t received it, please contact the Business Rates team.

Small business rate relief

If a rate payer occupies either a single property with a Rateable Value (RV) less than £15,000 or a main property plus additional properties with RV's that do not exceed £2,899 and totalling less than £20,000 the ratepayer can apply for mandatory relief.

Eligible Small Businesses that occupy a property with an RV less than £12,000 will be eligible for 100% relief. Whilst ratepayers who occupy properties with RV's between £12,000 and £15,000 will receive tapered relief from 100%-1%.

For occupied properties with a RV between £15,001 and £50,999 the Small Business Multiplier will be used.

You do not have to make a fresh application if you are already in receipt of relief. If you have not already applied for relief an application form is available. Please contact us. Our contact details are in the contact panel on the right of this page. Alternatively, you can download the Small Business Rate Relief application form below:

       Small-business-rate-relief-form 2026

Supporting Small Business (SSB) Relief – 2026

The 2026 Supporting Small Business (SSB) Relief Scheme will cap bill increases for any business losing eligibility for some or all of the following reliefs

• Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR),
• 40% Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief
• Rural Rate Relief
• 2023 Supporting Small Business Relief

Eligible ratepayers will have the increase in their bill capped at £800, or by the transitional relief caps, whichever is greater.

Ratepayers who are receiving SSB Relief on 31 March 2026 as a result of the 2023 revaluation will continue to receive relief, if eligible for 2026/27. SSB Relief will end for these ratepayers on 31 March 2027 without further notice.

Ratepayers who during 2025/26 lost entitlement to Small Business Rate Relief (because they failed the second property test) but have, under the rules for Small Business Rate Relief, been given a 12 month period of grace before their relief ended (or 3 years from 27 November 2025) - can continue on the 2026 SSB Relief Scheme for the remainder of their period of grace.

The relief will end:

• when your bill reaches the amount you would have paid without the scheme
• if the property falls vacant
• if the property is occupied by a charity or Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC)

How to get the relief

You do not need to apply for this relief. If you qualify, we will apply it to your account automatically. If you think you are entitled to the relief but haven’t received it, contact the Business Rates team.

Any relief awarded under this scheme will be adjusted if there is a change in your circumstances, for example if you vacate the premises or there is an amendment to the rateable value of your premises.

Transitional Relief

Transitional relief limits how much your bill can change each year as a result of business rates revaluation.

You’ll get transitional relief if your rates go up or down by more than a certain amount. This means changes to your bill are phased in gradually.

Your council will adjust your bill automatically if you are eligible.

How much your bill can change by

How much your bill can change by from one year to the next depends on both:

• your property’s rateable value
• whether your bill is increasing or decreasing as a result of revaluation

You stop getting transitional relief when your bill reaches the full amount set by a revaluation.

The business rates year is from 1 April to 31 March the following year.

Your business rates will change by no more than the percentage caps listed in the tables from one year to the next.

If your bill is increasing from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029

If your property qualifies for transitional relief, it will automatically be shown on your rates bill.

Transitional Relief Supplement

For the 2026-27 financial year, starting 1 April 2026, the UK government is introducing a 1p Transitional Relief Supplement (TRS) to help fund the Transitional Relief scheme.

This is calculated on the RV of your property as at 1 April 2026 and will be shown on all Non-Domestic Rate demands. If your bill receives transitional relief this amount will be offset by the transitional relief you receive.

If you have any questions about the scheme, please contact the Business Rates team.

Improvement Relief

From 1 April 2024, an Improvement Relief scheme will support businesses wishing to invest in their property. It will make sure no ratepayer has higher business rates bills for 12 months as a result of making qualifying improvements to a property they occupy.

Eligibility

You will be entitled to Improvement Relief if:

• a certificate has been issued by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and has not been withdrawn or ceased to have effect
• the same ratepayer has been in occupation since the works started
• the works either increased the area or improved the physical state of any building

You will not be entitled to Improvement Relief for:

• a newly constructed building
• a refurbished building that had left the rating list during the works
• a change of use alone
• the addition of land

You do not need to apply for Improvement Relief. The government’s Valuation Office Agency will consider this relief when they are notified of property changes.

More information can be found here: Improvement relief - GOV.UK

Heat Network Relief

At the Spring Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced that a new Heat Network relief will apply from Friday 1 April 2022 for hereditaments being used wholly or mainly as a heat network which have their own rating assessment.

Heat networks take heat or cooling from a central source(s) and deliver it to a variety of different customers such as public buildings, shops, offices, hospitals, universities and homes.

By supplying multiple buildings, they avoid the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in every building. Heat networks have the potential to reduce bills, support local regeneration and be a cost-effective way of reducing carbon emissions from heating.

To be eligible for Heat Network Relief the hereditament must:

• Have their own business rates assessment
• Be wholly or mainly used for the purpose of a heat network, and
• The heat, over the next 12 months, is expected to be generated from a low carbon source (irrespective of whether that source is located on the hereditament or on a different hereditament)

Full details for this relief and the eligibility rules can be found on the government website.

Charity relief

If a property is occupied by a charity and used for charitable purposes 80% mandatory rate relief will be granted. To apply contact the business rates section. Contact details are in the contact panel on the right of this page.

Discretionary relief

If a property is occupied by a non-profit making organisation (e.g. a sports club) the ratepayer can apply for discretionary rate relief. To apply contact the business rates section. Contact details are in the contact panel on the right of this page.

Registered community amateur sports club relief

If a property is occupied by a Registered CASC 80% mandatory rate relief will be granted. To apply contact the business rates section. Contact details are in the contact panel on the right of this page.

Rural rate relief

If a property is the only post office, general store, public house or petrol filling station situated in a settlement appearing on the rural settlement list the ratepayer will be eligible for 50% mandatory relief. We have the discretion to grant up to 100%. Both mandatory and discretionary relief is subject to rateable value restrictions. See if your business is in a qualifying area:

• Download Rural Settlements List 2025 - 2026 (PDF 32 kb)
• Download Rural Settlements List 2026 - 2027 (PDF 32kb

Partly-occupied rate relief (section 44a)

A property which is partially empty for a short period of time can be granted relief on the unoccupied portion at the discretion of the billing authority based on a certificate issued by a Valuation Officer. To apply contact the business rates section. Contact details are in the contact panel on the right of this page.

Unoccupied property relief

All empty properties are exempt of rates for a short period starting from when they first fall empty. It is a 3 month exemption for shops and offices, and 6 months for industrial premises (factories, workshops and warehouses). After the exemption period, the premises will be billed at a rate equivalent to the occupied charge. Certain classes of property are exempt for however long they remain unused - please contact the business rates office via the bills and benefits - enquiry form . To apply contact the business rates section. Contact details are in the contact panel on the right of this page.

In the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced that from 1 April 2024 business premises must be re-occupied for at least 13 weeks rather than 6 weeks in order to qualify for a further period of empty rates relief when that period of occupation ends.

Hardship relief

A ratepayer can apply for discretionary relief if they can prove they're suffering from severe hardship and that it is in the interests of local council tax payers to grant relief. To apply contact the business rates section. Contact details are in the contact panel on the right of this page.

West Lancashire Borough Council Policy for the granting of Discretionary Non -Domestic Rate Relief

Contact us

If the document you require is  not available or you have any other enquiry please contact us. Contact details are in the contact panel on this page.