Under certain circumstances, some organisations or businesses may be entitled to business rates relief.
Information and links to online forms are available below. If you require further help, please call the Business Rates Department on 01733 452252 or email businessrates@peterborough.gov.uk.
Unoccupied property
Relief is available where a non-domestic property is unoccupied and not in use:
- For the first three months there is no charge in respect of retail premises
- For the first six months there is no charge in respect of industrial premises
To apply for relief on an unoccupied property, please email businessrates@peterborough.gov.uk, including your account number and mark the subject as "Unoccupied property".
Hardship relief
At our discretion we can, in exceptional circumstances, award up to 100% relief from business rates to ratepayers who are experiencing hardship. However, as we fund a significant part of this relief ourselves, we will only consider cases if they are in the interest of the community.
Please review our discretionary relief guidelines document below for further details. If you wish to make an application, please email us at businessrates@peterborough.gov.uk with the following information:
- Details of the reason for an application, including evidence of any exceptional or unforeseen circumstances
- Details of the business and its importance to the local community
- Copies of the last two years' audited accounts
- Nature of the hardship
- Other evidence that the ratepayer feels supports their application
- Details of the number of people the business employs who reside in Peterborough
Please make the subject heading "Hardship relief" and include your account number and / or property reference.
Transitional relief
Transitional relief limits how much your bill can change each year as a result of business rates revaluation. This means changes to your bill are phased in gradually if you're eligible.
From the 2023/24 financial year, you'll get transitional relief if:
- Your property is in England
- Your rates go up by more than a certain amount
We will adjust your bill automatically if you're eligible.
| Rateable value | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 |
| Up to £20,000 | 5% | 10% + inflation | 25% + inflation |
| £20,001 - £100,000 | 15% | 25% + inflation | 40% + inflation |
| £100,000+ | 30% | 40% + inflation | 55% + inflation |
Supporting Small Business relief
As a result of the 2023 revaluation, some businesses will lose part or all of their small business relief or rural relief entitlement. Supporting Small Business relief 2023 (SSB) will restrict the increase to a cash value of £600 per year, after all other mandatory reliefs have been applied.
Business Ratepayers will remain eligible for SSB for three years, or until such time that they reach the level of Business Rates they would have been required to pay, had the scheme not existed (whichever is sooner).
Eligible ratepayers will see the amount payable in 2023 capped at £600, followed by £1,200 in 2024, and £1,800 in 2025.
Our systems will identify eligible ratepayers and automatically award relief, there is no need to contact us.
Improvement relief
Improvement relief supports businesses who have invested in their property. It provides relief from higher business rates bills, where the increase in your bill was due to making certain improvements. You do not need to apply for improvement relief or do anything differently. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) values qualifying works and passes this information on to us. The relief is then automatically applied where the eligibility criteria has been met. The relief lasts for 12 months from when the improvement works were completed.
You can find out more about which improvements are eligible by visiting the business rates relief page on the GOV.UK website.