Checked against the rating list and the rules in force as at 2026-08-23.
Yes. Any ratepayer can ask the Valuation Office, now part of HMRC, to check the facts behind a 2026 rateable value, and then to challenge the value itself. Two cautions first. A challenge can raise the value as well as lower it. And on most London high streets a shop’s value sits close to its neighbours’, so the money is more often in reliefs that never reached the bill than in the valuation. We look at both before recommending either.
Check. You confirm or correct the facts the valuation rests on: floor area, description, what the premises are used for. A wrong area is the most common finding and is corrected without a challenge.
Challenge. If the facts are right and you think the value is still wrong, you put a case to the Valuation Office with evidence, usually rents and values of comparable premises.
Appeal. If the challenge is refused, an independent tribunal decides.
Each stage has its own rules and time limits, which the Valuation Office publishes. We do not summarise them here because they change and because getting them wrong costs you the case.
Look at the value per square metre against comparable premises on the same street. Every street page on this site shows it: where your premises rank, and the street median for the same class of use.
Well above the street median, with nothing about the premises to explain it, is the pattern worth a look. Below the median, the valuation is rarely the issue and a challenge is unlikely to help.
Above the median is not evidence on its own. Position, frontage, floor layout and condition all move a value legitimately. It is a reason to check, not a conclusion.
A challenge asks the Valuation Office to look at the assessment again, in full. If the evidence points upwards, the value goes up. It is not a request for a discount.
The bill still has to be paid while a check or challenge is open. If the value is reduced, the difference is refunded from the date the new value takes effect.
The first look is free. We compare the premises with its street on the 2026 list and read the bill, and we tell you which of the two things is worth pursuing: the valuation, the reliefs, or neither.
If the valuation looks out of line, we run the Check and Challenge stages for you as your agent, alongside the review of reliefs. Our fee is 15% of the saving your council confirms in writing. If nothing changes, there is nothing to pay.
Every retail and hospitality premises in London has been checked against the official rating list. Enter your address to see yours. No sign-up, no phone number.
Public data only. We do not ask for your rates bill, and there is nothing to upload.
If there's nothing to save, we say so.
Send your address, or a photo of your bill, and we’ll tell you within one working day whether there is anything worth looking at. WhatsApp 07594 933857.
If there's nothing to save, we say so. James replies personally within one working day, usually sooner. We reply by WhatsApp, text or email, never a cold call. No mailing lists.
Sources: Check and challenge your business rates valuation (GOV.UK)
Each borough page carries the spread of rateable values and the value per square metre, by type of premises. It also ranks the most expensive streets in the borough. Those aggregations are ours.
We checked 109,537 London retail and hospitality premises against the 2026 rating list — seeing your street’s figures is free, no sign-up.