Business Rates

Reliefs and Exemptions

• Unoccupied Property Relief
• Charitable Relief, Relief for Registered Community Amateur Sport Clubs (CASCs) and Discretionary Relief
• Partly Occupied Property Relief
• Small Business Rates Relief
• Qualifying Industrial Hereditament
• Occupation Prohibited by Law
• Listed Buildings
• Ancient Monuments
• Minimum Rateable Value
• Insolvency and Debt Administration

Unoccupied Property Relief

Business Rates will not be payable in the first three months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial properties. After this period, rates are payable in full unless the unoccupied property rate has been reduced by the Government. 

 

The Government achieved this from 1 April 2009 by increasing the exemption threshold to unoccupied properties with a Rateable Value of less than £15,000.  In light of the revaluation of commercial properties, this exemption has been extended for a further 12 months from 1 April 2010 and the threshold has been increased to less than £18,000.

 

From 1 April 2011, the Rateable Value threshold below which empty properties are exempt from rates will revert to its normal level (properties with a Rateable Value less than £2,600).

 

In most cases, the unoccupied property rate is zero for properties owned by charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs. In addition, there are a number of exemptions from the empty property rate.

 

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Charitable Relief, Relief for Registered Community Amateur Sport Clubs (CASCs) and Discretionary Relief

Charities are entitled to relief from rates on any non-domestic property that it wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes. Registered CASCs are also entitled to relief from rates on any non-domestic property that is wholly or mainly used for the purposes of that club, or that club and of other such registered clubs. In both cases, successful applications will receive relief of 80% of the bill and local councils have discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill.

 

Authorities also have discretion to give relief on all or part of any rate bill for a property occupied by certain non-profit making bodies. They can also consider giving rate relief in cases of hardship or where part of a property is beyond use for a certain period.

 

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Partly Occupied Property Relief

A Ratepayer is liable for the full non-domestic rate whether a property is wholly occupied or only partly occupied. Where a property is partly occupied for a short time, the local authority has discretion to award relief in respect of the unoccupied part. Please contact the office for more information regarding this.

 

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Small Business Rate Relief

 

Small business rate relief is available to Fareham ratepayers with either:

• A single property or,
• Multiple properties, providing those additional properties each have a Rateable Value which does not exceed £2,599, and the combined Rateable Values of all the properties does not exceed £17,999 (conditions apply)

All eligible businesses will have their liability calculated using the small business multiplier (40.7p in 2010/2011).

 

Where the Rateable Value is below £6,000, business will also receive 50% rate relief on their liability. This relief decreases on a sliding scale of 1% for every £120 of Rateable Value over £6,000, up to £12,000.

 

Eligible businesses with Rateable Values of between £12,001 and £17,999 will have their liability calculated using the small business multiplier only. 

 

The Small Business Rate Relief scheme will be funded by a supplement on the rate bill of those businesses not eligible for the relief. This supplement is built into the standard multiplier.

 

You have a duty to inform us of certain changes in circumstances within 4 weeks of the day the change happened and we will identify other changes from our own records.  The information that you must provide is:

• If you take occupation of another property that you did not occupy at the time of making the application for relief
• If the Rateable Value of a property occupied by you in an area outside Fareham, increases

Should you wish to claim Small Business Rate Relief ,please download and complete the application form below. Once you have completed the form, please print and sign the form and return it to Fareham Borough Council, Revenues Department, Civic Offices, Civic Way, Fareham, PO16 7AZ.

Download the application form for Small Business Rate Relief (144 Kb)

 

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Qualifying Industrial Hereditament

An unoccupied 'Qualifying Industrial Hereditament' is exempt for the first 6 months following the date it was last occupied and is defined as any hereditament other than a retail hereditament in relation to which all buildings comprised in the hereditament are:

• Properties that are constructed or adapted for use in the course of a trade or business.
• Properties constructed or adapted for use as storage, processing of minerals, the generating of electricity and the manufacturing or repair of goods or materials.

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Occupation Prohibited by Law

An unoccupied property is exempt where its owner is prohibited by the law from occupying it or allowing it to be occupied. This situation may arise where a local authority has taken legal action to prevent occupation on the grounds of a risk to health and/or safety, or where an occupation of the building would inevitably lead to action by the relevant authority or body to bring the occupation to an end.

 

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Listed Buildings

An unoccupied property which is the subject of a building preservation notice, or which is included in a list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest.

 

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Ancient Monuments

This relates to all unoccupied properties that are included in the schedule of ancient monuments.

 

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Minimum Rateable Value

Unoccupied properties within England with a rateable value of less than £2,600 are exempt from Business Rates.

 

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Insolvency and Debt Administration

Exemption from liability on unoccupied properties also applies to the following cases:

• where the owner is a company which is subject to a winding-up order.
• The property is currently in possession by a liquidator
• A bankruptcy order has been served on the owner's estate
• Finally where an owner is entitled to possession of the property in the his capacity as the trustee under a deed arrangement.

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If you want further information about any of the reliefs or exemptions, please contact the Business Rates Office on Tel: 01329 824651, or e-mail businessrates@fareham.gov.uk

 

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