New Rules for Empty Property Charges

Changes to Empty Property Charges from 1 April 2008

The rating of empty and partly occupied property changed on the 1st April 2008, as a result of reforms made by the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007. This Act provides strong incentives to bring vacant premises back into use by removing certain types of reductions to Non-Domestic rates bills.

From the 1st April, most property that had been empty for more than 3 months, or more than 6 months for industrial property, no longer received relief from rates. If your property had been empty for more than 3 months on the 1st April 2008, and it is not an industrial property, your empty rate charge increased from 50% to 100% of the basic occupied business rates.

Before April 2008 Non-Domestic rates were not payable on industrial properties when empty. now, a 100% charge will be payable after they have been empty for 6 months. Any industrial property that had been empty for more than 6 months on the 1st April 2008 also became liable for a 100% charge immediately.

These changes were reflected in the 2008/09 annual bills issued during March 2008. The link at the foot of this page will display an "Empty Property Rates Leaflet" that accompanied every annual bill reflecting an empty property charge, it contains some frequently asked questions and a chart which summarises the changes

The following properties will continue to receive 100% relief from rates when empty

  • Listed buildings
  • Properties with a rateable value below £2,200
  • Properties where the liable person is a personal representative of a deceased person
  • Properties subject to a bankruptcy order, winding-up order, or liquidation

For more information about Business Rates please see www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk the official Government website

Linked documents:

* Download Empty Property Rates Leaflet (application/pdf; 10kb)