Charitable business rates relief
Charities, community amateur sports clubs and bodies not established or conducted for profit may claim relief.
Organisations that are recognised as charities for UK tax purposes can claim 80 per cent relief from the business rates if the charity or trustees of the charity:
- is the rate payer
- uses the property wholly, or mainly, for charitable purposes
If the property is unoccupied, the intention must be to use it for charitable purposes
For charity shops, the charity must use the property wholly or mainly to sell goods donated to it. It must also use the net proceeds for the purposes of the charity.
What is a charity
A charity is an organisation established for charitable purposes. To have charitable status usually means that you're included in the Charity Commissioner's register of charities. There are some charities that do not need to register. These are known as 'excepted charities' and include organisations such as:
- church commissioners
- some Scout Association and Guide Association units
- voluntary schools
If you're not in the register of charities or an 'excepted charity', we can still treat you as a charity if you have a letter from HM Revenue and Customs stating that, for tax purposes, you are treated as a charity.
Community amateur sports clubs
We treat sports clubs which have registered for Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) status with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in a similar way to registered charities and will give them 80 per cent mandatory relief if the club:
- is the rate payer
- uses the property wholly, or mainly, for purposes of the club or other registered clubs
If the property is unoccupied, the intention must be to use it for the club or other registered clubs.
Discretionary rate relief
Any organisation that qualifies for 80 per cent mandatory rate relief may also apply for discretionary relief for all or part of the remaining 20 per cent of its bill.
We can grant up to 100 per cent discretionary rate relief if an organisation is not a charity, but has been set up for these purposes:
- religious
- social welfare
- artistic
- educational
- recreational
- not run to make a profit
Applications can now be submitted for the 2026-27 financial year
To apply for either mandatory and/or discretionary rate relief for the 2026 to 2027 financial year, complete the form below.