Business rates changes from April 2026
Revaluation
From 1 April 2026 all commercial properties have been revalued by the Valuation Office.
Gateshead Council uses the rateable value (RV) to calculate your rates bill.
More information about Business rates revaluation 2026 at Gov.uk.
Pubs and live music venues relief
In 2026-27, all pubs and live music venues will benefit from a 15% business rates relief on top of the support announced at Budget 2025. Their bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further two years.
We will apply this automatically. Further information will be included with your bill.
Changes to the multipliers
2025 to 2026
The small business multiplier for 2025 to 2026 was 49.9p. This is used to calculate the rates payable for properties with a rateable value under £51,000.
For properties with a rateable value of £51,000 or more the multiplier was 55.5p.
2026 to 2027
The Government confirmed in the autumn 2025 statement that from 1 April 2026 there will be 5 multipliers. This is because they have removed retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
The new multipliers are:
| Rateable value | Retail, leisure and hospitality multiplier | Standard multiplier |
| Up to £51,000 | 38.2p (39.2p with transitional supplement) | 43.2p (44.2p) |
| £51,000 up to £500,000 | 43.0p (44.0p) | 48.0p (49.0p) |
| £500,000 and above | 50.8p (51.8p) | 50.8p (51.8p) |
There is no lower multiplier for properties valued at £500,000 and above.
All multipliers are subject to a 1p transitional supplement.
Empty properties will pay the higher standard multiplier.
Gov.uk guidance: Business Rates Multipliers: Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure
Additional support
For those seeing bill increases, the Government is providing a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next 3 years, including:
- a £3.26 billion transitional support scheme, providing more generous support to the largest ratepayers
- a Supporting Small Business (SSB) scheme worth over £500 million to help the smallest businesses, including an expansion to those businesses who were previously eligible for retail, leisure and hospitality, worth £1.3 billion. The SSB scheme caps any increase at the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief caps from 1 April 2026. The 2023 SSB scheme is also being extended for 1 year
- permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses
- extending the Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) grace period from 1 to 3 years, meaning businesses will now remain eligible for SBRR on their first property for 3 years after expanding into a second property
Further details will be provided with your annual bill for the 2026 to 2027 charge. Changes will be automatically applied to your bill where eligible.