Lawfully reducing what you pay on empty and underused commercial property - empty rates periods, partly occupied relief, the reliefs and exemptions you are entitled to, and removal from the rating list where a property is genuinely incapable of occupation. Handled personally by Oliver Hamblin MRICS across Surrey and the West London industrial boroughs, after twelve years at Altus Group (now Ryan), four of them as a Director in the business rates team.
Chartered Surveyor. Twelve years in business rates at Altus Group (now Ryan), four of them as a Director, and more than fifteen years of rating work across the South of England and London. RICS-regulated firm no. 897221.
Send the rates bills or the property addresses. We map the current liability and tell you honestly where there is room to reduce it.
Where there is scope, we set out the options in writing - reliefs, relief periods, sequencing, or a case for deletion - with the evidence each one needs.
We deal with the billing authority and the Valuation Office, and keep you updated until the liability is settled.
Four distinct mechanisms, each with its own rules and evidence. Most instructions use two or three of them together.
An empty floor is still a rateable floor. Once the initial relief period has run, the liability continues at the full rate until the space is let, reoccupied, stripped out for works or taken out of the list - and each of those routes has a different cost and a different timetable.
Three months of full relief for most property, six for industrial and warehouses, running from the date the property became empty. After that, full rates are payable. A fresh period only starts after genuine reoccupation of at least 13 weeks. The timing decisions - when to market, when to take a short let, when a sale completes - all interact with it.
Where only part of a building is in use for a limited period, the billing authority can ask the Valuation Office for a certificate apportioning the rateable value between the occupied and empty parts. Discretionary, evidence-led, and meant for phased moves and works to part of a building - but regularly missed.
A property undergoing refurbishment extensive enough that it is incapable of beneficial occupation should not be in the rating list at all for the duration. That is a valuation argument made to the Valuation Office with a site record, programme and contractor evidence, not a relief claimed from the council.
Small business rate relief below £15,000 rateable value, 80% mandatory charitable relief, improvement relief for twelve months after qualifying works, transitional relief where the 2026 revaluation moved the bill sharply, and the statutory exemptions for listed buildings and low-value property. Entitlement is checked, not assumed.
Anonymised examples showing the approach taken on typical mitigation instructions. Each case turns on its own facts and evidence, so outcomes vary.
Reliefs and empty rates reduce what you pay on a given rateable value. If the rateable value itself is too high - wrong floor areas, the wrong tone, physical disadvantages ignored - that is a separate argument, made through the Check, Challenge and Appeal process on the 2026 rating list. Most instructions are worth looking at from both directions. Our CCA walkthrough explains the three stages and the deadlines at each.
Business rates advice and appealsRateable value reviews and Check, Challenge and Appeal on the 2026 rating list.
RICS Red Book valuations for loan security, probate, tax and matrimonial purposes.
Twelve years in business rates at Altus (now Ryan), four as a Director.
The rates bill or just the property address is enough. The initial review is free, usually comes back within five working days, and gives you a written view on whether there is a case before anything is agreed.
