Coronavirus: Business Grant Funding
Please visit the Business Grant Funding page for information on how to apply for a Small Business Grant fund or a Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant.
Please note we are currently receiving high volumes of phone calls and emails, which will be dealt with in the order they are received. This may mean you do not get a response for up to 14 days.
The small business rate relief (SBRR) scheme is designed to reduce the amount of business rates payable by small businesses.
Who is eligible for the relief?
You can get SBRR if you only occupy one business property in England (see below for exceptions) and its rateable value is less than £15,000.
This amount of relief you can get changes depending on the rateable value of your property:
- if the rateable value for your property is less than £12,000, you can get 100% relief
- if the rateable value is between £12,000 and £15,000, then the percentage of relief available will decrease on a sliding scale.
View details of the 2010 SBRR scheme.
If you occupy more than one property
You may still be eligible for relief if:
- each additional property has a rateable value less than £2,900
and
- the total rateable values of all your properties add up to less than £20,000. The SBRR will be applied to the main property only.
An additional measure has been introduced for businesses already receiving SBRR. If your business occupies an additional property which would normally have meant the loss of the relief, you may be allowed to keep that relief for a period of 12 months on your original property - full business rates will be payable on your new property.
You cannot receive this relief unless your business actually occupies the property. If you do not intend to occupy a business premises straight away, you may be eligible for empty property relief (conditions apply). View further information about empty property relief.
If the rateable value of your property is between £15,000 and £51,000
If your property is occupied, and has a rateable value as shown above, you won't be entitled to SBRR, but your business rates bill will automatically be calculated using the small business multiplier, which is lower than the standard multiplier.
After you've applied for SBRR
We will assess your entitlement and, if you qualify, send you an amended bill. You must tell us about any changes which may affect your entitlement to rate relief, such as:
- vacating the property
- taking up occupation of an additional property
- an increase in the rateable value of a property.
Changes
If you do not report a change, you may pay the wrong amount of business rates and you may be committing an offence under the Fraud Act 2006.
If you aren't sure about what changes to report, please contact us at business.rates@huntingdonshire.gov.uk.
If you qualify for other reliefs then you may not be entitled to claim SBRR and your bill will be calculated using the standard multiplier. For example, if you would qualify for, or are already receiving, mandatory relief as a charity, or rural rate relief as a post office, general store, public house, or food shop, then you will not qualify for this relief. This does not include transitional relief or any discretionary reliefs.