Empty property business rates relief
For most types of business premises, you do not have to pay business rates for the first three months they are unoccupied.
For some industrial properties, such as factories and warehouses, we extend this to six months.
We only allow one rate-free period each time a property becomes unoccupied. So, if you take over a property that is already unoccupied, you will only benefit from this allowance for the remainder of the three or six month period.
After this period, for most properties, you will have to pay rates in full.
Some properties do not have to pay business rates when unoccupied, these include:
- listed buildings and ancient monuments
- land (such as surface car parks)
- properties where the law forbids occupation
- where the crown or a local authority has taken action with a view to forbidding occupation of the property, or to acquiring it
- properties where the ratepayer is the personal representative of someone who has died
- where the person entitled to possess the property is subject to bankruptcy or winding up proceedings
- properties with a rateable value of less than a specified amount - from 1 April 2017, the government has set the value at £2,900
- agricultural land and premises
- premises used for public religious worship
- Properties that are wholly used for the training, welfare and other associated services for disabled people
The last three mentioned above are also exempt when occupied.