Rateable Value Calculator

Rateable value is the figure at the heart of UK business rates: it is the Valuation Office Agency’s estimate of what your commercial property could be rented for per year on the open market. Your business rates bill is then broadly your rateable value multiplied by a government-set multiplier, minus any reliefs. One honest caveat up front: nobody can calculate the official rateable value with a formula. The VOA sets it, publishes it in the rating list, and you look yours up on GOV.UK. What you can calculate is everything around it, and that is what this page does.

Mode 1: Rental value estimate. Enter the annual rent a property could command, plus a maintenance percentage and a vacancy allowance, to estimate the effective rental value after those deductions. Landlords and valuers use this kind of adjusted figure when sense-checking rents. Mode 2: Business rates bill. Enter a rateable value and the tool applies the correct 2026/27 England multiplier, showing the gross annual, monthly, and weekly bill, and flags the 100% Small Business Rate Relief threshold.

Worked examples

Mode 1: rental value estimate. A shop could command £24,000 a year in rent. You expect 5% maintenance costs and an 8% vacancy allowance. Enter 24000, 5, and 8:

1. Total deduction = (5 + 8) ÷ 100 = 0.13
2. Estimated effective rental value = £24,000 × (1 − 0.13) = £24,000 × 0.87 = £20,880.00

That £20,880 is the rent after realistic costs, the kind of adjusted figure a valuer sanity-checks against comparable lettings. Remember it is a planning estimate, not the VOA's official figure. If you let property, our rent expense calculator breaks down the cost side in more detail, and the buying rental property calculator weighs a purchase against its rental income.

Mode 2: business rates bill. An office has a rateable value of £20,000 and is not a retail, hospitality, or leisure property. Enter 20000 and select No:

1. £20,000 is below £51,000, so the small business multiplier applies: 43.2p
2. Gross annual bill = £20,000 × 0.432 = £8,640.00
3. Monthly = £8,640 ÷ 12 = £720.00; weekly = £8,640 ÷ 52 = £166.15

Try a £30,000 café instead and select Yes: the small business RHL multiplier of 38.2p applies, giving £30,000 × 0.382 = £11,460.00 a year. For short lets and holiday rentals, where business rates treatment differs from standard commercial property, see our short term rental calculator.

How rateable value actually works in the UK

Rateable value is set by the Valuation Office Agency, an agency of HM Revenue and Customs, for non-domestic properties in England and Wales. (Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own separate rating systems.) It broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a specific valuation date. For the rating list that took effect on 1 April 2026, that date is 1 April 2024. The VOA weighs the property's size and layout, location, age and condition, use class, and actual rents paid for comparable properties.

Your business rates bill is then:

Bill = rateable value × multiplier − reliefs

The multiplier (the "poundage") is set by central government each year. Because revaluations happen every three years now, rateable values move with the market while multipliers are rebased so a revaluation does not raise extra revenue overall. If you think your valuation is wrong, the route is the VOA's Check, Challenge, Appeal process, not your council: the council bills you, but only the VOA can change the valuation.

2026/27 England multipliers used by this tool

From 1 April 2026 England uses five multipliers. The old 40% retail, hospitality and leisure relief is gone, replaced by permanently lower RHL multipliers built into the bill:

• 38.2p – small business RHL (retail, hospitality, leisure; RV below £51,000)
• 43.2p – small business non-RHL (RV below £51,000)
• 43.0p – standard RHL (RV £51,000–£499,999)
• 48.0p – standard non-RHL (RV £51,000–£499,999)
• 50.8p – high value (RV £500,000 and above, any use)

On top of this, reliefs can cut the bill substantially. The biggest is Small Business Rate Relief: properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less generally pay nothing (100% relief), with tapered relief up to £15,000, provided it is your only or main business property. The tool flags this automatically. Wales uses different multipliers (including a narrower retail multiplier for small shops), so Welsh ratepayers should confirm figures with their council.

What competing calculators miss

• Bill calculators ignore the rental side. The strongest competing tool computes the bill from a rateable value but never addresses the prior question: what rent can this property realistically sustain after vacancy and maintenance? This page pairs both, so a landlord can move from expected rent to likely rates bill in one place.
• Explainers with no estimator. Council pages explain the system accurately but give you no way to run your own numbers; you must phone or email for the simplest what-if. Both modes here compute instantly.
• Monthly and weekly figures. Competitors quote the annual bill and leave the budgeting to you. This tool divides it into monthly and weekly amounts automatically.
• The relief flag. None of the competing bill estimators we checked tell you on the spot that a £12,000-or-less rateable value usually means a zero bill through Small Business Rate Relief. Ours does, with the reminder to confirm with the council.

Frequently asked questions

Who sets the rateable value of my property?

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an agency of HM Revenue and Customs, for properties in England and Wales. Your local council collects the bill but cannot change the valuation. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate systems.

Can I calculate my own official rateable value?

No. The official figure is assessed by the VOA and published in the rating list; you look it up using the VOA's "find a business rates valuation" service on GOV.UK or find it on the front of your bill. Mode 1 on this page estimates an effective rental value for planning, which is a different thing.

What valuation date applies right now?

For the rating list in force from 1 April 2026, rateable values are based on open-market rental values as of 1 April 2024. Revaluations now happen every three years.

How is my business rates bill worked out?

Broadly: rateable value × the government multiplier for your band, minus any reliefs. For 2026/27 in England the multipliers run from 38.2p to 50.8p depending on rateable value and whether the property qualifies for the retail, hospitality and leisure rates. Mode 2 on this page does this calculation.

What is Small Business Rate Relief?

A national scheme, administered by local councils, that discounts business rates for small premises. In England, properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less generally get 100% relief and pay nothing; relief tapers between £12,001 and £15,000. It must be your only or main business property, with tight limits on additional properties.

Does this cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?

No. The multipliers and several reliefs in the bill estimator are England-specific for 2026/27. The VOA values properties in England and Wales only; Scotland sets its own poundage and Northern Ireland runs a separate domestic and non-domestic rating system.

Sources

Disclaimer: This tool gives planning estimates only. It is not an official valuation: only the Valuation Office Agency sets rateable values, and only your local council can confirm your bill, reliefs, and transitional arrangements. Multipliers are set annually and the figures here reflect England 2026/27; verify current rates on GOV.UK before making financial decisions.