Reductions and reliefs
- Change of address
- Charities and registered community amateur sports clubs
- Small business rate relief
- Empty property rates
- Hardship relief
- Refunds
- Retail relief
- Enquiries
Change of address
Use our change of address form if you are:
- taking responsibility for a property in the Borough
- moving from one business address to another
- no longer responsible for a business property
If you are a landlord or letting agent, informing us of a change of tenant, please use our landlord change of tenant e-form
Landlord change of tenant e-form
Charities and registered community amateur sports clubs
Mandatory rate relief application e-form
Charities and registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs are entitled to 80% relief where the property is occupied by the charity or the club, and is wholly or mainly used for the charitable purposes of the charity, or for the purposes of the club.
Sports clubs generally do not have charitable status for non-domestic rates purposes, but they can apply for this status through the Inland Revenue.
Small business rate relief
Small business rate relief e-form
Relief is available to ratepayers who occupy:
- Only one business property in England with a rateable value below £15,000, or
- One main business property and other additional properties, providing all the additional properties have individual rateable values below £2,900 and the total of the rateable values of all the properties is under £20,000 - relief will apply to the main property only.
If a business takes on an additional property which would normally disqualify them from receiving relief, they will continue to receive support for 12 months.
There are two elements to the relief - eligible businesses will qualify for relief as follows:
- The rates bill will be calculated using the small business multiplier currently 49.9p
- Businesses with rateable values below £12,000 will receive relief of 100% of their liability
For properties with a rateable value of between £12,001 and £14,999, the rate of relief is awarded on a sliding scale decreasing from 100 percent to 0 per cent.
For example:
| Rateable value | Percentage reduction |
|---|---|
| Up to £12,000 | 100% |
| £12, 750 | 75% |
| £13,500 | 50% |
| £14,250 | 20% |
| Over £14,999 | 0% |
Empty property rates
Business rates will not be payable in the first three months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial properties. After this period rates are payable in full.
In addition to this, there are several exemptions from the unoccupied property rates:
Occupation prohibited by law
An unoccupied property is exempt where its owner is prohibited by law from occupying it or allowing it to be occupied. This situation may arise where the Council has taken legal action to prevent occupation on the grounds of a risk to health and/or safety
Listed buildings
A building which is the subject of a building preservation notice, or which is included in a list of buildings of specific architectural or historic interest, is exempt
Ancient monuments
Exemption extends to property which are included in a schedule of monuments
Minimum rateable value
Property with a rateable value of less than £2,900 are exempt.
Personal representatives of deceased persons
A property is exempt where the owner is entitled to possession only in his capacity as the personal representative of a deceased person
Insolvency and debt administration
Exemption from liability on unoccupied property also applies in the following situations (where are governed by the appropriate legislation):
- Where there exists in respect of the owner's estate a bankruptcy order
- Where the owner is entitled to possession of the property in his capacity as trustee under a deed of arrangement
- Where the owner is a company which is subject to a winding up order or which is being wound up voluntarily
- Where the owner is entitled to possession of the property in the capacity of a liquidator
Hardship relief
Sometimes there are exceptional circumstance where we can reduce or remit the amount of Non-Domestic Rates you pay if you would suffer hardship if we don't and it is the best interests of Council Tax payers in Darlington.
Who can apply for hardship relief?
We can award hardship relief to any ratepayer.
How is the decision made?
We review applications on an individual basis and consider such things as
- your current circumstances,
- level of hardship and the steps the business has taken to improve its situation
- why you need hardship relief
- As any relief would be paid by other tax payers, we must consider the interests of Darlington residents and the community as a whole.
We may ask you to provide evidence of your hardship to support your application.
This may include a copies of your audited business accounts, and may also include bank statements and cash flow statements or any other evidence that may be relevant to your application.
Retail relief
You could qualify for retail, hospitality and leisure relief 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
This is not an exhaustive list but is indicative of the types of businesses that will benefit from the relief.
Ineligible businesses include:
- Financial services such as banks, building societies, pawnbrokers
- Medical services such as doctors, vets, dentists
- Professional services such as solicitors, accountants, insurance agents
What you’ll get
If you’re eligible, you could get:
- 50% off your business rates bills for the 2022/23 tax year (1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023)
- 75% off your business rates bills for the 2023/24 tax year (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024)
The most you can get in each tax year is £110,000 per business.
You may be able to get retail, hospitality and leisure relief on top of other types of business rates relief you’re eligible for.
Refunds
Please complete this form to request a refund of overpaid business rates.
Enquiries about your business rates
If you have an enquiry regarding your business rates please use our e-form below. Please make sure you include your business rates account number to help us deal with your enquiry.