If your rateable value is wrong, you are overpaying every month until someone corrects it. We review commercial assessments across Surrey, tell you honestly whether there is a case, and run the Check, Challenge and Appeal if there is.
Or email the bill to [email protected]. The free initial view normally comes back within five working days.
The 2026 rating list came into force on 1 April 2026. Every assessment was rebuilt from scratch, based on what the Valuation Office judged your property would have let for on 1 April 2024 - not on today's market, and not on what you actually pay in rent.
Those valuations are produced in bulk. Floor areas are often carried forward from old surveys, fit-outs and alterations go unrecorded, and properties are grouped with others that are not really comparable. That is not a criticism of the process, it is simply what mass valuation involves - but it does mean a meaningful number of assessments are wrong, and they stay wrong until somebody challenges them.
The 2023 list closed to new Checks and Challenges on 31 March 2026, so the 2026 list is now the only one open. If your new assessment looks high, this is the list to deal with it on.
Your bill is the rateable value multiplied by one of five multipliers, before any relief. England moved from two multipliers to five this year, which is why a lot of bills moved in ways people did not expect.
| Multiplier | 2026/27 | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Small business | 43.2p | Rateable value of £50,999 or less |
| Standard | 48.0p | Rateable value of £51,000 or more, where no other multiplier applies |
| Small retail, hospitality and leisure | 38.2p | Qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure property below the small business threshold |
| Standard retail, hospitality and leisure | 43.0p | Qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure property above the small business threshold |
| High value | 50.8p | Rateable value of £500,000 or more |
England only. Multipliers are set each year, and transitional arrangements can cap how fast a bill rises after a revaluation - so the figure on your bill may not be a straight rateable value multiplied by the rate above.
A Check must be completed before a Challenge can be made, and a Challenge must be submitted within four months of the Check decision. Only one Challenge is allowed per Check, and the evidence put in at Challenge is largely what an Appeal can rely on.
You cannot simply ring up and object to a rateable value. There is a three-stage statutory route, each stage with its own deadline and evidence requirements. Cases are lost on process at least as often as on merit.
You confirm or correct the facts the Valuation Office holds about your property - floor areas, the description, what is included in the assessment. A surprising number of cases are won here, because the underlying survey is simply out of date.
No fixed deadline, but nothing else can start until the Check is done
This is where the valuation argument is made, supported by rental evidence analysed back to the valuation date and by comparable assessments. It needs to be right first time - you get one Challenge per Check.
Within 4 months of the Check decision
If the Challenge is not settled, the case goes to the Valuation Tribunal. Most cases are agreed before this point, but the Challenge has to be built as though it will end up there.
After the Challenge decision, or if there is no reply within 18 months
If the assessment looks right, we will say so. An honest no costs you nothing and saves you a year of correspondence.
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.
"Very grateful to Oliver for his advice with a stressful business rates dispute involving my father. His guidance helped us achieve an excellent outcome. Highly recommended."
Firms describe this work as business rates consultancy, rating advice or rating surveying, and the Valuation Office calls anyone appointed to act for a ratepayer an agent. The job is the same under every name: measure the property, test the rateable value against rental evidence, and run Check, Challenge and Appeal to a conclusion. What differs is who does it. Several of the national consultancies that rank for Surrey searches have no office in the county and hand the file to a team; the rating agents that cold-call industrial estates are often not regulated by anyone.
We sit in between. One Chartered Surveyor, RICS-regulated, with twelve years at Altus Group behind him, who inspects the property himself and is the person on the end of the phone throughout. A consultant or adviser should be able to tell you who will handle your case, what it will cost and for how long, and when a challenge is not worth making. If you are comparing advisers, our guide to choosing a business rates adviser in Surrey sets out the checks the government recommends and the questions we would ask.
Every rateable value in England was reset on 1 April 2026, based on rents at 1 April 2024. Across England the total rose by 19.6%. Surrey came in a little below that in most districts, but the headline hides the part that matters: industrial property rose far more than anything else, retail barely moved and fell in Guildford, and offices went two different ways depending on the town.
These are the Valuation Office's own figures for the change in total rateable value by billing authority. They are the backdrop to your assessment, not a verdict on it. A rise in line with the district average does not mean the figure is right, and a rise well above the sector average for your district is a reason to have it checked.
| Billing authority | All property | Retail | Industrial | Offices | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woking | +18.6% | +4.1% | +25.4% | +23.9% | +17.9% |
| Guildford | +14.0% | -1.8% | +39.0% | +10.0% | +17.0% |
| Surrey Heath (Camberley) | +18.6% | +10.6% | +28.0% | +8.0% | +19.6% |
| Elmbridge (Weybridge) | +18.9% | +8.4% | +32.1% | +22.7% | +16.4% |
| Spelthorne (Staines) | +4.9% | +14.9% | +25.0% | +8.7% | -10.9% |
| Runnymede | +15.1% | +14.4% | +27.3% | +9.1% | +16.2% |
| Waverley | +19.0% | +12.8% | +29.4% | +16.6% | +18.5% |
| Mole Valley | +14.0% | +12.3% | +22.6% | +7.8% | +17.4% |
| Reigate and Banstead | +16.9% | +8.2% | +35.6% | +9.8% | +18.8% |
| Epsom and Ewell | +16.2% | +12.0% | +22.2% | +13.6% | +18.4% |
| Tandridge | +18.4% | +17.3% | +22.7% | +18.3% | +15.9% |
| Billing authority | All property | Retail | Industrial | Offices | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rushmoor (Farnborough) | +13.3% | +3.0% | +16.2% | +13.6% | +17.2% |
| Basingstoke and Deane | +11.6% | +5.4% | +19.4% | +1.7% | +16.3% |
| Bracknell Forest | +14.8% | +8.5% | +16.7% | +15.7% | +17.5% |
| Reading | +9.6% | -5.5% | +17.5% | +11.4% | +14.8% |
| Wokingham | +12.6% | +5.9% | +19.3% | +19.7% | +4.4% |
Industrial: Guildford (+39.0%), Reigate and Banstead (+35.6%) and Elmbridge (+32.1%) saw the sharpest increases. The schemes of value on the estates were lifted on the best modern evidence, which is exactly the situation where older units end up assessed above what they would let for.
Retail: flat to modest, and down 1.8% in Guildford. A shop whose assessment rose when the district's retail total fell is worth a second look.
Offices: up 23.9% in Woking and 22.7% in Elmbridge, but only 8.0% in Surrey Heath and 7.8% in Mole Valley. Where a park-wide tone has been applied, the floor-by-floor adjustments are usually where the argument is.
Spelthorne (+4.9%) is the lowest in the county because its "other" category fell 10.9%; its retail, industrial and office figures all rose by normal amounts.
What you pay is a separate question from the rateable value. The 2026/27 multipliers and transitional arrangements decide how much of any change reaches the bill, and our guide to the 2026 rating list sets out the timetable. If your assessment looks out of step with these figures, send us the bill and we will tell you whether there is a case.
Source: VOA, change in rateable value of rating lists, 2026 revaluation (compiled list), published 1 April 2026. Change in total rateable value between the 2023 and 2026 lists; the 2026 figures are valued as at 1 April 2024. "Other" covers everything outside retail, industry and offices, from hotels and schools to airports, so it can swing on a single large property. Updated April 2026; next refresh when the VOA republishes.
Different towns throw up different rating arguments, because the stock and the valuation schemes behind it are different. Local pages: business rates in Woking, business rates in Guildford, business rates in Camberley, business rates in Weybridge & Elmbridge, business rates in Staines & Spelthorne, business rates in Epsom, business rates in Reigate & Redhill, business rates in Farnborough, business rates in Basingstoke, business rates in Bracknell, business rates in Reading.
Town centre offices, Sheerwater and Old Woking industrial, and the regenerated retail core.
Surrey Research Park, Slyfield, the High Street and out-of-town retail.
Watchmoor Park offices, Pembroke Broadway trade counter and the regenerated town centre.
Brooklands and The Heights, Walton, Esher and Cobham town centres, and the Molesey estates.
Staines and Sunbury offices, Shepperton studios and the Heathrow southern perimeter.
Town centre retail and the Ashley Centre, Longmead and Nonsuch industrial, racecourse-area leisure.
Redhill town centre, Holmethorpe and Salfords industrial, and Reigate's period office market.
The M3 and M4 corridors do not stop at the Surrey boundary, and neither does our local patch.
Farnborough Business Park, Cody Technology Park, the airport and the Blackwater Valley estates.
Basing View offices, Chineham and Viables business parks, Daneshill and Houndmills distribution.
Campus headquarters, Arlington Square, the Lexicon and the Southern and Eastern industrial areas.
Thames Valley Park, Green Park, the station quarter, the Oracle and the industrial estates.
Heathrow, Park Royal, Hayes, Stockley Park, Wembley and the industrial boroughs of Hounslow, Hillingdon, Harrow, Ealing and Brent - more than fifteen years of rating work, with a dedicated page for each borough.
Most Surrey instructions fall into one of three bulk classes, each valued on its own scheme and each with its own recurring errors.
Watchmoor Park, Surrey Research Park, Woking town centre and the serviced-office market. Demise changes at lease events, part-floor hand-backs and quality allowances between refurbished and dated stock.
How we value offices and business parks
Slyfield, Sheerwater, Monument Way and the smaller estates off the A3 and M3. Eaves height, yard depth, access for articulated vehicles and the gap between older stock and modern-estate tone.
How we value industrial and warehousing
Guildford High Street, Woking's regenerated core, Camberley and the market towns. Zoning on irregular and listed units, frontage-to-depth ratios and the effect of split levels on usable trading area.
How we value retail, hospitality and leisureWe also act on trade counters and roadside premises, healthcare and childcare, and development or refurbishment schemes where the property should come out of the list during works.
Anonymised examples of typical Surrey rating instructions. Every case turns on its own facts and evidence, so outcomes vary.
Commercial agents and fit-out specialists see a great many rating assessments, and they are careful about who they put their clients in front of.
Award-winning commercial property agents and chartered surveyors, with offices in Guildford, Horsham and Dorking
Owen Isherwood act for landlords and occupiers on commercial property across Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex - offices, retail, industrial, warehousing, investment and development land. They refer their clients to us for business rates advice, and we work alongside them on rating assessments for property they let, manage and sell.
Visit Owen Isherwood
B Corp certified workplace design, consultancy and fit-out specialists, working across London and the UK
Area design and deliver office fit-outs - Cat A for landlords and developers, Cat B for occupiers - along with workplace consultancy, asset refurbishment and specialist laboratory space. Fitting out a shell does not usually change what is payable - a tenant would be expected to fit out the space, so it stays rateable - but major refurbishment and alteration can, both while the works are under way and once they are finished. We work alongside Area's clients on the rating side of their projects.
Visit Area
Chartered surveyors and commercial property agents based in Guildford
Gascoignes advise landlords and occupiers on commercial property across Surrey - lettings, sales, acquisitions and property management. They refer their clients to us for business rates advice, and we work alongside them on rating assessments for property they let and manage.
Visit GascoignesEmpty rates, reliefs, and removal from the rating list during refurbishment.
RICS Red Book valuations for loan security, probate, tax and matrimonial purposes.
Twelve years in business rates at Altus (now Ryan), four of them 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.
