Reductions for part-occupied properties

You might be able to get business rate relief if your property is empty temporarily. This means it is empty for no more than 3 months in a 12-month period, or no more than 6 months for an industrial property.

To be eligible, your property must be partly empty because:

• people are moving in over time
• people are moving out over time
• you cannot occupy the whole building because of building or refurbishment works or because of fire damage

This is called section 44a relief. There is no minimum amount of time you can claim relief for.

We will not give relief for a property that was empty in the past but is now fully occupied or vacated.

We might send an inspector to the property without notice to check that you are not using the area you have told us is not occupied.

The relief will end when:

• the way the building is occupied changes
• the rating period ends
• a new period of relief under a new certificate begins
• the property becomes fully occupied or fully vacated

You should not claim this relief if the property will be partially occupied for a long time. You should ask the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to split the property in the rating list instead.

You must tell us if you start using the unoccupied area.

How to apply

Contact us to apply.

You’ll need to provide your floor plan. This should show which areas of the property are occupied and which are unoccupied.

If you are making another application for relief on a different part of the same premises, you will need send us a business case. This should explain why:

• you need to make these changes
• another part of the property is temporarily unoccupied

What happens next

We’ll assess your application against the policy on this relief.

If we decide you’re eligible for the relief, we’ll tell the VOA. They will give us a certificate that splits the rateable value between the occupied and unoccupied parts of the property.

We will write to you to confirm that you will receive the relief. We will issue a new bill based on the rateable value of the occupied part of the building.

If we decide you’re not eligible for the relief, we’ll write to you to tell you why.

How to appeal

This relief is discretionary, so there’s no formal right of appeal.

If you think our decision is wrong, check that you meet the criteria. If you still disagree, contact us within one month of receiving your decision letter.

You should explain why you think you meet the criteria and give us evidence of this. An independent officer will review your application and write to you with the outcome. This is normally within 28 days.

Page last updated: 26 June 2024