Exempted buildings and empty buildings relief
Exempted buildings
Certain properties are exempt from business rates.
Exemptions include:
- agricultural land and buildings, including fish farms
- buildings used for training or welfare of disabled people
- buildings registered for public religious worship or church halls
Empty properties
You don’t have to pay business rates on empty buildings for 3 months. After this time, most businesses must pay full business rates.
Some properties can get extended empty property relief:
- industrial premises (eg warehouses) are exempt for a further 3 months
- listed buildings - until they’re reoccupied
- buildings with a rateable value under £2,600 - until they’re reoccupied
- properties owned by charities - only if the property’s next use will be mostly for charitable purposes
- community amateur sports clubs buildings - only if the next use will be mostly as a sports club
Claim an empty property relief
Apply for an empty property relief
Partly Empty Properties
Where a property is partly occupied for a short time, we can, in certain cases, award discretionary relief in respect of the unoccupied part.
More information is available on the Discretionary Relief page.
