What are National Non-Domestic Rates?

All businesses benefit from the services that local authorities provide.  Some services are of direct benefit to businesses, for instance roads, the police and the fire brigade.  Others, such as education and housing, are of indirect but nevertheless real benefit.  Non-Domestic Rates – or Business Rates as they are often known – are the way the users of non-domestic property contribute towards the cost of providing those services.

The rates collected by billing authorities are paid into a central pool and re-distributed to authorities and major precepting authorities depending on the number of people living in their area.  Sutton’s share of redistributed rate income, together with the income from Council Tax payers, Revenue Support Grant provided by the Government and certain other income, is used to pay for the services provided.

Who pays the rates?

Rates are usually payable by the occupier of non-domestic property.  This will normally be either the owner-occupier or the leaseholder of the property.  If a property is empty, the owner or leaseholder pays – at a reduced rate.

What property is non-domestic?

In general, non-domestic rates are payable on most commercial property, such as shops, offices, warehouse and factories.  Self-catering accommodation, such as a holiday home, is also non-domestic if you intend to make it available for commercial letting to short stay guests for 140 days or more in a year.  If you offer bed and breakfast accommodation in your own home to six people or less, you are exempt from non-domestic rates provided that the bed and breakfast use is subsidiary to the residential use.  Timeshare units are non-domestic.

Small Business Rate Relief

Eligible businesses with rateable values of below £5,000 will get 50% rate relief on their liability. This relief decreases on a sliding scale by 1% for every £100 of rateable value over £5,000, up to £10,000. Your local billing authority will calculate the exact decrease.

The relief is available to ratepayers with either:

one property, or
one main property and other additional properties, providing the additional properties do not have individual rateable values of more than £2,200, and the combined rateable value of all the properties is under £15,000 (or £21,500 in London). The threshold for the combined rateable value is dependent on the location of the main property. The main property is the only one that will have the relief applied to it. The additional properties will have their charges calculated using the standard multiplier.

 If you have any questions concerning NNDR you can contact the business rates team on 020 8409 7100

Or you can e-mail us on businessrates@sutton.gov.uk  

Or , we do have an e-mail information service at suttonrb@latestinfo.co.uk

Alternatively, you can write to us at

London Borough of Sutton
NNDR Section
Civic Offices
St Nicholas Way
Sutton, SM1 1EA