Helping businesses, property owners and investors understand and manage their business rates.
Business rates can represent a significant property cost, but understanding whether your assessment is correct, what reliefs may be available and how changes to your property could affect your liability is not always straightforward.
At TGE Property, we help commercial property occupiers, landlords, investors and developers access specialist business rates advice as part of our wider commercial property services.
Through our network of specialist advisers, we can connect you with the expertise required to review your current position, identify potential opportunities for savings and help ensure your property is being assessed correctly.
Whether you occupy a single commercial property or manage a wider portfolio, we can help you understand the next steps.
Speak to TGE Property today.
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Business rates are a tax charged on most non-domestic properties, including offices, warehouses, industrial units, shops and other commercial premises.
The amount payable is largely determined by your property’s rateable value, which is set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), together with the relevant business rates multiplier and any reliefs or exemptions that apply.
However, your rateable value is not necessarily the same as your current rent, and changes in the property market, occupation, refurbishment or the physical characteristics of a property can potentially affect its rating assessment.
For businesses, landlords and investors, understanding these costs is an important part of managing the overall cost of commercial property.
Business rates can become relevant at almost every stage of owning, occupying or developing commercial property.
TGE Property can introduce clients to specialist business rates advisers who can assess your individual circumstances and provide appropriate advice.
Support can include:
Reviewing your existing rateable value and business rates liability to identify whether the assessment accurately reflects the property and your circumstances.
Understanding how your commercial property has been assessed and whether there may be grounds to question or challenge its rateable value.
Where an assessment may be inaccurate, specialist advice can help determine whether there are appropriate grounds to challenge the property’s rateable value through the relevant VOA process.
Depending on the property and occupier, various business rates reliefs may be available. A specialist review can help identify potential reliefs and determine whether you may be eligible to apply.
Business rates can remain a significant consideration when commercial premises become vacant. Advice can help landlords, property owners and investors understand empty property relief, exemptions and the potential rates implications of their wider property strategy.
If a commercial property is undergoing substantial works, refurbishment or redevelopment, its rating position may need to be reviewed.Obtaining advice early can help property owners understand the potential business rates implications throughout the project.
For businesses, investors and landlords with multiple properties, business rates can represent a substantial portfolio-wide cost. Specialist portfolio reviews can help identify inconsistencies, potential savings and opportunities to improve the management and forecasting of rates liabilities.
Business rates are a tax charged on most non-domestic properties, including offices, warehouses, factories, shops and other commercial premises.
In England, your bill is generally calculated using the property’s rateable value and the applicable business rates multiplier, before taking account of any reliefs or reductions.
Rateable value is an assessment of the annual rent a commercial property could have achieved on the open market at a specified valuation date. The Valuation Office Agency determines rateable values for commercial properties in England and Wales.
As a simplified calculation:
Rateable Value × Applicable Multiplier = Basic Business Rates Liability
Any applicable business rates relief is then taken into account. The actual amount payable can be affected by reliefs, transitional arrangements and other property-specific circumstances.
You can challenge the rateable value of a commercial property if you believe the assessment is incorrect. Before doing so, it can be worthwhile obtaining specialist advice to assess the valuation and establish whether there are reasonable grounds for a challenge.
Potentially. Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for business rates relief, or there may be grounds to review the rateable value of your property. The appropriate approach will depend on the property and individual circumstances.
In most cases, the occupier of a commercial property is responsible for paying business rates. Where a property is vacant, liability will generally revert to the property owner, subject to applicable exemptions and reliefs.
Empty commercial properties can qualify for a period of relief, after which business rates may become payable by the property owner unless another exemption applies. The exact position depends on the property and circumstances.
New rateable values came into effect on 1 April 2026, based on property rental values as at 1 April 2024. England also introduced a revised multiplier structure, meaning the impact on an individual property’s bill depends on both its new rateable value and the multiplier applicable to it.
TGE Property can discuss your commercial property requirements and, where specialist rating advice is required, connect you with an appropriate business rates specialist. This allows business rates to be considered alongside your wider property strategy and occupational costs.
