Business rates and rateable values

If you own or rent a business property, you will be liable to pay unoccupied business rates on your property after it has been empty for three consecutive months. For industrial properties, you will be liable to pay unoccupied business rates after it has been empty for six consecutive months.

Currently, the unoccupied rate is 100 per cent of the occupied rate.

The unoccupied exemption applies to the property, not to the liable person or company. So if you buy or rent an unoccupied property partway through the exemption period, you will not get a new period of exemption.

There are some exemptions from the unoccupied rate including:

• there is a legal reason why the property is empty
• it is empty because the government, local authority or a public authority are keeping it empty
• there is a preservation order on the property
• the property is on the schedule of monuments
• the property's rateable value is less than £2,900 in the 2023 rating list
• you only have possession of the property because you are acting on behalf of someone who has died
• there is bankruptcy order against the dead person's estate
• you have possession of the property as a trustee
• the company that owns the property is subject to a winding-up order
• you only have possession of the property as a  liquidator working under the Insolvency Act 1986

You can find more information on GOV.UK about your rateable value if:

• your business is closed
• the property is in a bad state of repair
• you are refurbishing the property or making structural alterations