Appeal your business rates evaluation
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) regularly update the rateable values of all businesses and other non-domestic properties (properties that are not just private homes). This is called a revaluation.
Rateable values are the amount of rent a property could have been let for on a set valuation date - for the 2023 valuation, this was 1 April 2023.
We use these rateable values to calculate business rate bills.
Revaluations are carried out to reflect changes in the property market, which means that business rates bills are based on more up-to-date information.
The last revaluation came into affect on 1 April 2023.
Contacting the Valuation Office Agency (VOA)
We're responsible for anything to do with your business rates bill.
The VOA is responsible for the valuation of your property - you should contact the VOA with any queries about your rateable value:
- to find your rateable value - you can see the future rateable value for your property and get an estimate of what your 2023/24 business rates bill may be through the find a Business Rates Valuation Service on GOV.UK
- if your property details need changing - to tell the VOA about changes to your property details (floor area sizes or parking, for example), you need a business rates valuation account. The VOA may accept your changes and update the current and future valuations
- if you think your rateable value is too high - from 1 April 2023, you will need to use a business rates valuation account to tell the VOA you think your rateable value is too high. You must continue to pay your business rates as normal until a decision has been made
How COVID-19 affected future rateable values
The VOA bases most rateable values on an estimate of what it would cost to rent a property for a year, starting on a certain date.
For the 2023 valuation, that date was 1 April 2021 - this was during the pandemic and the rent information the VOA used reflected this.