Some businesses may be eligible for a reduction in their business rates bill. This page gives information and guidance on the following reliefs and exemptions, as well as how to apply.

• Small business rate relief
• Retail hospitality and leisure business rates relief (RHL) scheme 
• Charity and non-profit making organisation relief 
• Sporting rate relief
• Rural rate relief
• Relief for empty/unoccupied properties
• Relief for partly occupied properties
• Improvement relief
• Supporting small business scheme (SSBR)
• Discretionary rate relief policy

Small business rate relief

Small Business Rates Relief (SBR) is available to businesses that occupy a single property with a rateable value (RV) of less than £15,000.

If you take on an additional property while in receipt of SBR, you can continue getting existing relief on your main property for 12 months.

You could keep SBR on your main property after 12 months if all of your additional properties have rateable values below £2,900 and the total rateable value of all of your properties is less than £20,000.

The value of the relief is 100% when the rateable value is £12,000 or lower. Between £12,000 and £15,000 the relief decreases on a sliding scale for every pound of rateable value increased (e.g. at the RV of £13,500 the relief is 50%, at £14,000 the relief is 33%).

Apply for small business rate relief

Retail hospitality and leisure business rates relief (RHL) scheme 

Retail Hospitality and Leisure Relief (RHL) ended on 31 March 2026. It will remain available for some previous years. 

This covers the Business Rates bills for businesses occupying property for certain Retail, Hospitality and Leisure purposes, where the main use of the premises is for visiting members of the public.

You could qualify for retail, hospitality and leisure relief for those years if your business is mainly being used as a:

• shop
• restaurant, café, bar or pub
• cinema or music venue
• hospitality or leisure business - for example, a gym, a spa or a hotel

Please note that businesses providing certain types of services (financial, medical, other professional services), Post Office sorting offices, or properties that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public are not eligible.

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief is a Government funded scheme with Government-set eligibility criteria, but it is awarded using the council's discretionary power. As such, the award must keep the business within subsidy control limits.

To apply please email businessrates@northdevon.gov.uk or telephone 01271 388361.

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.

More information about the relief is available on the Government website.

To apply please email businessrates@northdevon.gov.uk or telephone 01271 388361.

Charity and non-profit making organisation relief

Charitable organisations registered under the Charity Act 1960 and occupying a non-domestic property for that purpose, are entitled to business rates relief of 80% of the full bill or of the transitional bill where transitional arrangements apply.

Charity relief

We have the discretion to reduce all or part of the remaining 20% of the charity's bill. When applying for relief please ensure you include your charity's registration number and enclose a copy of your Articles of Association, Statement of Aims and Objects or Trust documents. 

Non-profit making organisation relief

We also have the discretion to reduce all or part of any rates bill in respect of a business rated property occupied by certain bodies not established or conducted for profit and whose main objects are charitable or philanthropic or religious or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature, fine arts or the occupier is a club concerned with recreation.

When making your application please ensure that you enclose a copy of your latest audited trading accounts.

Apply for charitable rate relief

Sporting rate relief

Rate Relief can be granted to sports clubs that have registered with HM Revenue and Customs as Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs).

In effect, 80% Mandatory Rate Relief will be automatically awarded on application, and consideration given to award an additional top-up rate relief of up to 20%.

Further information and forms to register as a CASC are available on the HM Revenue & Customs website.

To apply please email businessrates@northdevon.gov.uk or telephone 01271 388361.

Rural rate relief

Certain properties can receive help with their business rates if the business is in a rural area with a population below 3,000. The following are deemed to be rural settlements within the council’s area. The boundary of each settlement is the same as the parish boundary, except where otherwise defined.

Arlington; Ashford; Atherington; Berrynarbor; Bishops Nympton; Bishops Tawton; Bittadon; Bratton Fleming; Brayford; Brendon; Burrington; Challacombe; Chittlehamholt; Chittlehampton; Chulmleigh; Combe Martin; Countisbury; East & West Buckland; East Anstey; East Down; East Worlington; Filleigh; George Nympton; Georgeham; Goodleigh; Heanton Punchardon; Horwood; Instow; Kentisbury; Kings Nympton; Knowle; Knowstone; Landkey; Lovacott; Lincombe & Lee; Loxhore; Lynton & Lynmouth; Mariansleigh; Martinhoe; Marwood; Meshaw; Molland; Mortehoe; Newton Tracey; North Molton; Parracombe; Queens Nympton; Rackenford; Romansleigh; Rose Ash; Satterleigh & Warkleigh; Shirwell; Stoke Rivers; Swimbridge; Tawstock; Trentishoe; Twitchen; West Anstey; West Down; West Pilton; Westleigh; Witheridge

You will receive 100% relief on your business rates if your business is in an eligible area and you are one of the following:

• the only village shop or post office, with a rateable value of up to £8,500
• the only public house or petrol station, with a rateable value of up to £12,500

The council also has the discretion to allow up to 100% relief to any non-domestic property in a rural settlement with a rateable value up to £16,500 if the council is satisfied that the property is used for a purpose that benefits the local community.

To apply please email businessrates@northdevon.gov.uk or telephone 01271 388361.

Relief for empty/unoccupied properties

Business rates are not payable for the first three months that a property is empty (six months for industrial properties). After this period full rates are payable.

Empty property rate exemptions 

• any property with a rateable value below £2,900
• where liability falls on a charity and the property appears likely to be next used for charitable purposes
• community amateur sports clubs where it is likely that the premises will be used again for the purpose of the club
• empty listed buildings
• empty property where the ratepayer is subject to insolvency action

To apply please email businessrates@northdevon.gov.uk or telephone 01271 388361.

Relief for partly occupied properties

In certain circumstances, the council can request that the valuation officer provides a certificate to apportion the rateable value of a property which is partially occupied for ‘a short time only'. This is called a Section 44a certificate.

This is normally used in situations where a property is occupied or vacated in stages, or where part of the property is unusable eg due to fire, flood or redevelopment.

The empty part can receive a complete exemption from rates for the first three months it is empty (or, if it is an industrial property, for the first six months).

After the initial rate-free period expires, in most cases the occupied business rate will apply again to the whole property

To apply please email businessrates@northdevon.gov.uk or telephone 01271 388361.

Improvement relief

You might get improvement relief if you make certain improvements to your property. If you're eligible, you'll get the relief for one year. It starts from when you complete your improvements.

Any improvements you make must:

• increase the rateable value of your property
• be completed on or after 1 April 2024

They must also either:

• increase the size of your property
• add new features or equipment to your property, such as heating, air conditioning or CCTV

Any improvements to existing features or equipment do not qualify.

You must have occupied the property during and after the improvement works to get improvement relief. You cannot pass on your relief to anybody else.

You do not need to apply or do anything differently. If you meet the necessary requirements, we will apply the relief to your bills.

The HMRC Valuation Office will value and certify qualifying improvements and issue a certificate to customers which shows: 

• the new rateable value 
• how much of the rateable value is due to the qualifying works 
• when improvement relief should start and end 

If you have questions about a certificate of qualifying improvements, please contact the Valuation Office at the email address on your certificate. Please note that the Valuation Office cannot answer queries about the occupation condition or your business rates bill.

You can find out more about which improvements are eligible at GOV.UK at the following link: Business Rates Improvement Relief

Supporting Small Business Scheme (SSBR) - 2026 scheme

This relief will help those ratepayers who as a result of the change in their rateable value at the revaluation are losing some or all of their small business or rural rate relief and because of this are facing large increases in their bills.

For 2026/27 revaluation changes - you can get Supporting Small Business Relief if both of the following apply:

• your business property's bill is going up after, and because of, the revaluation
• you'll lose some or all of your Small Business Rate Relief (SBR), Rural Rate Relief or Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief

Charities and community amateur sports clubs who are already in receipt of 80% mandatory relief are not eligible under this scheme.

To support eligible ratepayers, 2026 SSBR will ensure that the increase in the bills of these ratepayers is limited to £800 per year or the relevant caps within transitional relief whichever is the greater.

There are special rules for those businesses that remained entitled to Supporting Small Business Relief on 31st March 2026 under the scheme for the 2023 revaluation. Any eligibility for these businesses for 2026 SSBR will end on 31 March 2027. All other eligible ratepayers remain in 2026 SSBR for either 3 years or until they reach the bill they would have paid without the scheme.

Discretionary rate relief policy

For more detail on discretionary rate relief please refer to our discretionary rate relief policy.