The non-domestic rates, or business rates, collected by local councils are the means by which businesses and others who occupy non-domestic property make a contribution towards the cost of local services... More about non-domestic rates.
Rateable Value
Apart from properties that are exempt from Business Rates, each non-domestic property has a Rateable Value which is normally set by the Valuation Officers of the Valuation Office Agency... More about rateable value.
The National Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier
The local council works out the Business Rates bill by multiplying the Rateable Value of the property by the Multiplier (rate per £ of Rateable Value) which the Government sets from 1 April each year for the whole of England... More about the National non-domestic rating multiplier.
Transitional Arrangements
Property values normally change a good deal between each revaluation. Transitional arrangements help to phase in the effects of these changes by limiting the amount by which a bill may rise following a revaluation... More about transitional arrangements.
Unoccupied Property Rating
When a business (non-domestic) property becomes empty, and remains so, there is an initial period during which no rates will be chargeable... More about empty property rates
