Business rates are how businesses and other organisations help towards the cost of local services.
They must be paid for any property that is not used for living in, such as:
If part of a home is used for business or non-domestic purposes and this is a self-contained area, such as a spare bedroom or a garage, then business rates may need to be paid for this part of the property.
Some non-domestic properties are free from business rates; these include:
Usually, the person or company who occupies the building has to pay the bill. If the building is empty the owner or tenant must pay - or the person who could be using the site.
The higher, standard multiplier pays for small business rate relief. The government has changed the law and can now make changes to one of the multipliers without affecting the other. For 2024/25 the government increased the standard multiplier by inflation but decided to freeze the small multiplier.