Business rates

The following multipliers will be used to calculate the nondomestic

Rate amounts payable for 2023/24.

• Small business multiplier – 49.9p (0.499)
• Standard multiplier – 51.2p (0.512)

The standard multiplier will be used:

• for all occupied property with a rateable value above £51,000
• for all empty property regardless of rateable value
• if the ratepayer is entitled to a mandatory relief

All occupied properties with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will have their bill calculated using the lower multiplier (except those attracting mandatory relief).

2023 Revaluation

The Valuation Office Agency, part of HM Revenues and Customs, is responsible for the assessment of a property’s rateable value. This is an assessment of the rent the property would get if it were available to let on the open market at a fixed valuation date. The 2023 rating list is effective from 1 April 2023, with rateable values based on a valuation date of 1 April 2021.

Paying your bill

You can choose to pay your non-domestic rate over 12 instalments from April to March. If you do not already do so and would like to, you will need to contact us. If you change to 12 monthly instalments during the year, we will give you the maximum number of instalments remaining in the current financial year. Please note that there is a minimum instalment amount of £50 per month, or one instalment if your bill is £100 or less – if this applies to your bill, payment cannot be made over 12 months.

Transitional Relief

There may be a significant change to a rateable value following a revaluation, so there are transitional arrangements that help to phase in the effect of such changes. As a result, if there is a large increase in the rateable value, the change is restricted. Transitional relief limits the percentage your bill can be increased each year following a revaluation; transitional relief will apply until the full amount is due. Transitional relief will be calculated automatically, and displayed on your bill. For more information please see Business rates relief.

2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme

The 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief scheme provides eligible occupied retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with 75% relief, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. Relief will be automatically provided to eligible business rate accounts. For more information, please see the Business Rates Relief: 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Scheme guidance.

Under the cash cap, no ratepayer can (in any circumstances) exceed the £110,000 cash cap across all of their properties in England. Where a ratepayer has a qualifying connection with another ratepayer then those ratepayers should be considered as one ratepayer for the purposes of the cash cap. The Retail Hospitality and Leisure Scheme is likely to amount to subsidy.

Any relief provided by Local Authorities under this scheme will need to comply with the UK’s domestic and international subsidy control obligations.

If you believe you are eligible for the 2023/24 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief Scheme, but this relief has not been awarded to your business rates account, please contact us at: businessratesteam@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Extension to the Supporting Small Businesses Relief
Scheme 

Ratepayers losing Small Business Rate Relief as a result of the 2023 revaluation will have their increases limited to a cash value of £600 per year, until they reach the bill they would have paid without the relief, or where entitlement to the relief ends.

The relief will be automatically awarded to ratepayers. A change of ratepayer will not affect eligibility for this scheme but eligibility will be lost if the property becomes:

• Vacant, or
• Occupied by a charity or Community Amateur Sports Club. Please note that Charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs, who are already entitled to mandatory 80% relief, are not eligible for 2023 Supporting Small Business Relief.

Rates are usually paid by the occupier of a business premises, often the owner or leaseholder. If the property is empty, it’s still usually the owner or leaseholder who pays the rates. Rates are collected by Portsmouth City Council.

You can pay business rates by direct debit. If you do not already pay this way and would like to, you can set your direct debit up using our online services. Set up or amend your business rates direct debit.

Paying by internet banking or BACS?

Just quote your reference number and our bank details:

• Account name: Portsmouth City Council
• Sort Code: 20- 69-57
• Account number: 23526623
• Paying by debit card

Please have your card details and your reference number ready.

Paying by debit card

• Pay by debit card via our website
• Use our automated telephone payment service – available 24 hours a day. Telephone 0800 876 6576 and follow the voice prompts.

Portsmouth City Council is responsible for calculating rates bills and for collecting the rates. We work out business rates bills by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate multiplier.

Calculate your own business rates using the national government’s online calculator

We calculate business rates bills by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate non-domestic multiplier. There are two multipliers:

• national non-domestic rating multiplier and
• small business non-domestic rating multiplier.

The government sets the multipliers for each financial year. Ratepayers who occupy a property with a rateable value below £51,000 (and who are not entitled to Mandatory Relief) will have their bills calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier, rather than the national non-domestic rating multiplier.

The multiplier for a financial year is based on the previous year’s multiplier adjusted to reflect the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figure for the September prior to the billing year.

The current multipliers are shown on the front of your bill.

Apart from exempt from properties, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an agency of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. They compile and maintain the rating list.

The rateable value of your property is shown on the front of your bill and broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date specified in legislation. For the 2023 rating list, this date was set as 1 April 2021.

The Valuation Office Agency may alter the valuation if circumstances change. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can also check and challenge the valuation shown in the list if they believe it is wrong.

Further information about the grounds on which challenges may be made and the process for doing so can be found on the government website (GOV.UK)

All rateable values are reassessed at revaluations.

The most recent revaluation took effect from 1 April 2023. Revaluation are expected to be completed every three years from 1 April 2023. This helps to ensure that business rates bills are up-to-date, more accurately reflect current rental values and relative changes in rents.

Frequent revaluations ensure the system continues to be responsive to changing economic conditions.

A property’s rateable value may be changed if:

• any physical changes are made to your property, such as building or demolishing an extension
• the property is in such poor condition that it cannot be economically repaired (in which case a reassessment may decide it should be taken out of the rating list or have its rateable value reduced to zero)
• the ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) believes the rateable value is wrong

Rateable value appeals are free and will be assessed by the valuation officer, an employee of the Valuation Office Agency. If the ratepayer and the valuation officer do not agree, the matter will be referred to a valuation tribunal.

If you employ an adviser to help you make your appeal, make sure they have the necessary rating knowledge and expertise, as well as appropriate indemnity insurance. Choosing a rating adviser who is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors or the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation means they are qualified and regulated by rules of professional conduct designed to protect the public from misconduct.

You are required to continue paying your business rates at their current level while any appeal is in process.

For further information about the grounds on which appeals may be made and the process for doing so, in the first instance please contact the local valuation office.

If you have any difficulty paying your business rates please contact our Business Rates Team at BusinessRatesTeam@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

The Government has put regulations in place to allow for the cancellation of certain backdated business rates liabilities.

If you do not pay your business rates, or you do not pay in accordance with your instalment plan (for example if you pay late), you may be subject to the following recovery proceedings:

Reminder – If you do not pay your business rates as shown on your business rates bill we will send you a reminder notice. The reminder notice will tell you the amount you have to pay in order to bring your account up to date. You must pay the amount shown on the notice. If you do not pay the amount due you will lose your right to pay by instalments and further recovery action will commence.

Summons – If you do not pay outstanding business rates following a reminder notice you may be summonsed to appear before the Magistrates Court. This will incur costs of £95.00 to your account. The summons will include a court hearing date. If the amount due (including the summons cost) is fully paid before the court hearing date then there will be no further action.

If you cannot pay the full amount due before the court hearing date you do not need to attend court. We will ask the court to grant a liability order for the debt. This will add further costs of £15.00 to your account.

Liability Order – Where the Magistrates Court grants a Liability Order, we are provided with rights to recover the debt via further methods, including Enforcement Agents

We can instruct enforcement agents to collect the debt. This will incur further fees. Our appointed enforcement agents are:

• Dukes Bailiffs Limited
•  Marston Holdings

Insolvency proceedings – We may commence bankruptcy or winding-up proceedings against your company

Business rates on empty properties are known as ‘unoccupied property rates’. They are not payable in the first three months that a property is empty. In the case of certain industrial & warehouse properties this is extended to six months. After this period, rates are payable in full unless the unoccupied property rate has been reduced by the government by order. If your unoccupied property rate for the financial year has been reduced by order,  this will be shown on the front of your bill.

Empty properties owned by charities and community amateur sports clubs are usually exempt from paying unoccupied property rates, and there are a number of other exemptions. Here are some other examples of situations where unoccupied property rates are not payable:

• The rateable value of the empty property is less than £2,900
• The owner is prohibited by law, by action taken by the Crown, or by any other local or public authority from occupying the premises
• Subject to a building preservation notice per Section 58 of the Town & Country Planning Act (1971) or in a list under section 54 of the Act
• The property is included in the schedule of monuments compiled under s.1 to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979
• The owner is entitled to possession only in his capacity as the personal representative of a deceased person If the following insolvency or debt administration situations exists:
• A bankruptcy order in parts 8 to 11 of the Insolvency Act 1986
• The owner is a trustee under a deed of arrangement to which the Deeds of Arrangement Act 1914 applies
• The owner is a company subject to a winding up order made under the Insolvency Act 1986, or is entitled to possession of the property in his capacity as liquidator under section 112 or section 145 of the Insolvency Act 1986.

For more information on business rate exemptions contact our Business Rates Team at BusinessRatesTeam@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

A ratepayer is liable for full business rates whether a property is wholly occupied or only partly occupied. Where a property is partly occupied for a short time, Portsmouth City Council has discretion in certain cases to award relief in respect of the unoccupied part. For more information contact our Business Rates Team at BusinessRatesTeam@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Small businesses in the Portsmouth City Council area are defined as having rateable values of under £51,000 from 1 April 2017.

Small businesses don’t pay full business rates because their rates are calculated using a reduced multiplier, rather than the standard one (see ‘what is a multiplier?’ above). Also small businesses with a sole or main property with a rateable value under £15,000 qualify for percentage relief on their business rates:

The table summarises the reductions for small businesses:

Follow this link for more information from Gov.uk on small business rate relief (SBRR). If you think you should be receiving small business rate relief, contact us at Business (non-domestic) rates. If you meet the criteria you should automatically continue to receive relief in each new valuation period. Let us know if your circumstances change.

Portsmouth City Council can reduce the payment of business rates in certain circumstances. Each case presented is considered on its own merit. Your case should include the number of people you employ and a business plan showing that an award would greatly assist your ability to continue trading. You should continue to pay your business rates while your case is progressing.

To apply for hardship relief on your business rates, contact our Business Rates Team.

If property is damaged in order to avoid paying rates, the valuation office will be required to disregard the change in the properties state when assessing its rateable value. For instance, if the roof is removed from an empty property for the purpose of avoiding rates, it may be valued as if the roof had not been removed and rates will still be payable.

Charities and registered community amateur sports clubs are entitled to 80% mandatory charity relief on business rates, which means paying no more than 20% per cent rates on any non-domestic property used for charitable or club purposes.

Portsmouth City Council can also grant relief to charities or non-profit making organisations on all or part of the remaining 20% of a business rate bill. This is at the council’s discretion and applies for just one year. To apply complete the ‘Discretionary rate relief application form’ below.

For more information contact us at Business (non-domestic) rates.

A completion notice is a document that specifies the ‘completion date’ for newly built properties. It is the date on which the property becomes a dwelling for Council Tax purposes, and is the date it is entered into the national non-domestic rates list.

The completion notice is issued in accordance with Section 46 Schedule 4A of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and Section 17 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

Where a property is structurally complete, or where the work remaining can reasonably be expected to be completed within 3 months, a completion notice will be served on the ‘owner’ of the property. The ‘owner’ is defined as ‘the person entitled to possession’.

Where work on a property is not yet completed, the completion notice can be served specifying the final completion day of up to three months from the date of service, for the remaining works for completion of the property to be carried out.

To ensure the accuracy of our completion notices, our property inspector will visit and review dwellings that are being built or altered. Evidence, such as photographs can be obtained to enable us make the right decision.

The council will consider a property to have reached a stage of substantial completion when it meets the following criteria:

• The basic structure is complete, for example all external walls and roof in place
• Internal walls are built (although not necessarily plastered)
• Floors laid (although the screed or top coat of concrete need not have been laid)

Many properties will have reached an advanced level of completion where, for example, ceilings are in place, walls have been plastered and second fixing may have commenced.

In these circumstances the amount of time allowed in the notice for full completion of the property may be quite short.

In order to be considered and ready for banding, the following work does not need to have been carried out:

• Internal decoration of the property, including the fitting of internal doors
• Final fitting of bathroom and kitchen units
• Final fitting of electrical fixtures, plug points and switches
• Final connection of water, gas and electricity (although services should be laid out on to the site)

The criteria for determining completion for Council Tax purposes are substantially different to that for determining completion for Building Control; therefore, whether building control certificates have been issued, or not is not directly relevant.

A completion notice may be served up to three months in advance of the day on which the council specifies that a property is complete; therefore, whilst at the date when the notice is sent the property may well not be complete, the important date to bear in mind is the date that the council is specifying as the date of completion.

If the property is complete, the council will serve a completion notice on the owner as soon as is reasonably practicable. A completion notice cannot be backdated, even if the property has been completed for some time.

New properties, whether newly constructed or created by conversion, which are unoccupied and substantially unfurnished will be subject to a full charge when it is brought onto the Council Tax list or non-domestic rating list.

A new or altered dwelling does not require a completion notice once the property becomes occupied.  The date used to enter onto the Council Tax list or non-domestic rating list will be the date of occupation.

A new or altered dwelling does not require a completion notice once the property becomes occupied.  The date used to enter onto the Council Tax list or non-domestic rating list will be the date of occupation.

For further advice please contact BusinessRatesTeam@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

This information is a general guidance and is not a substitute for the relevant statutes and regulations.