How do I know if I am paying too much business rates for my shop?

Checked against the rating list and the rules in force as at 2026-08-23.

In short

Three steps. Check that the rateable value on the official list is right. Divide the gross charge on your bill by that value to see which multiplier your council is charging you at. Then read the relief lines to see whether what should be there is there. Public data gets you half way through the first two. The third needs the bill.

Step one: your rateable value

The rateable value is set by the Valuation Office, and everything else follows from it. It’s public, so anyone can look yours up.

The figure on its own tells you little. What matters is how it compares with similar premises. Valuations are largely built from a rate per square metre applied to the trading area, so the right comparison is per square metre, against premises of the same kind on your own street.

We have worked it out for every retail, hospitality and leisure premises in London, so entering your address will show you where you sit on your own street. A figure above the median is a reason to look at the evidence behind the valuation. The detailed valuation shows the floor area and the rate per square metre the Valuation Office used.

Step two: work out your multiplier

Take the gross charge on the bill, the figure before reliefs, and divide it by your rateable value.

What comes out is the multiplier you are being charged at. Compare it with the rates in force and you know which band you are in.

If you run a restaurant, takeaway or café and find yourself on the standard rate, that is a coding problem. The amount you have been overpaying is likely to be four figures a year.

Step three: the relief lines

The bill itemises what your council has granted. You are checking whether the reliefs that should apply are present, and whether the amounts look right.

Small business rate relief missing is the most common. A relief lost at a change of occupier is next.

None of this appears in public data. It’s on your bill and nowhere else.

Then ask whether you can bank it

A saving that works out on paper doesn’t always reach your account. Transitional arrangements and supporting small business relief limit how far a bill can move in a year, and a capped account can show a nominal saving that never materialises in cash.

We run this check as a matter of course, because our fee is calculated on what your council confirms in writing.

One flat fee: 10% of the savings we secure, confirmed in writing by the council. Nothing saved, nothing to pay.

If there's nothing to save, we say so.

Not sure how it applies to you?

Send a photo of your rates bill and we’ll tell you the same day whether there is anything to recover. WhatsApp 07594 933857.

Send a bill photo

Sources: Check and challenge your business rates valuation (GOV.UK) · How business rates are calculated (GOV.UK)

The numbers behind this, borough by borough

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.

Related questions

We checked 109,537 London retail and hospitality premises against the 2026 rating list — seeing your street’s figures is free, no sign-up.