Supporting Small Business Relief

At the 2025 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that the 2026 Supporting Small Business Relief (SSBR) scheme would cap bill increases where a business loses some or all of their Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR), Rural Rate Relief, or Retail Relief (RHL) as a result of their rateable value changing at the 2026 revaluation.

Supporting Small Business Relief will apply to eligible ratepayers for financial years 2026/27 to 2028/29.

The cap on the increase in your bill will be either £800 per year or the relevant Transitional Relief percentage as shown below, whichever is higher.

The Government has also announced a one-year extension of the 2023 Supporting Small Business Scheme to 1 April 2027. Ratepayers who qualify for this extension will not qualify for the three-year 2026 Supporting Small Business Relief scheme. This support is applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements. More information can be found on the GOV.UK website.

Supporting Small Business Relief will apply to eligible ratepayers for financial years 2026/27 to 2028/29.

Accessing the relief

If you are eligible, the Supporting Small Business Relief will be applied automatically to your business rate account.

Who benefits from this scheme?

Supporting Small Business Relief helps ratepayers of occupied properties who lost some or all of their Small Business Rate Relief, Rural Rate Relief or Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief due to a change in their rateable value in the 2026 revaluation.

Supporting Small Business Relief limits the increase per year in the bills of these ratepayers to a cash value of £800 or the relevant Transitional Relief percentage as shown above, whichever is higher.

The starting amount of your 2025/26 rate bill for this purpose is worked out based on a full year of occupied rates using your circumstances on 31 March 2026, including reliefs but without any Transitional Relief.

Those ratepayers who qualified for the 2023 Supporting Small Business Relief in 2025/26 will receive a one year extension to 1 April 2027.

Eligibility for Supporting Small Business Relief is not affected by a change in ratepayer. However, if the property becomes unoccupied, or becomes occupied by a charity or Community Amateur Sports Club, it will not be eligible for Supporting Small Business Relief when it is reoccupied.

Additional information

As with all reliefs, the amount awarded will be recalculated if circumstances change, such as a change of rateable value.

Supporting Small Business Relief also counts towards the subsidy control limits.