The Small Business Rate Relief scheme came into effect from the 1^st April 2005. 

Where your rateable value is less than £10 000 you may benefit from this relief. There is also a “buffer zone” if your rateable value is between £10 000 and £15 000. 

For rateable values below £5 000 the relief is 50%. The relief is 1% less for every £100 of rateable value above £5 000 and below £10 000. 

Those ratepayers who do not qualify for this relief fund the scheme by paying a greater amount per pound of rateable value than small businesses. 

If the rateable value of your business property falls within the “buffer zone” then you do not contribute to funding the relief. 

Eligibility

To qualify for Small Business Rate Relief you must meet the following criteria. 

• The property must have a rateable value below £15 000.
• The property must be occupied.
• The property must exist on the National Non-Domestic Rates rating list on the 1^st April of the year that relief is being applied for.
• The property is the only property the ratepayer occupies or
• Any other properties occupied have rateable values of less than £2 200 and
• All occupied properties have combined rateable values not exceeding £15 000
•  The ratepayer must notify the council of particular changes in circumstances that effect their entitlement to relief.

The relief will be applied to your main property in cases where more than one property is occupied. The main property is the one with the largest rateable value.  

Please note that if you are in receipt of any Mandatory Relief you will not be eligible to apply for Small Business Rate Relief. 

Applying for the relief 

To apply for Small Business Rate Relief you will need to complete and return the application form. It can be downloaded above or requested through Firstcall. 

An application lasts for the life of a valuation list. Current applications will last until 31^st March 2010. Applications must be made within 6 months of the end of the financial year being applied for. 

The following people are eligible to complete an application.

• The Ratepayer.
• In case of a partnership, a partner of that partnership.
• In the case of a Trust, a trustee of that Trust.
• In the case of a corporate body, a director of the company.
• Any person duly authorised to sign on behalf of the Ratepayer. 

Changes of Circumstances 

As applications do not need to be made every year it is essential that we are kept informed of any changes to your circumstances.  

Informing Castle Morpeth of changes in circumstances is a condition for being entitled to the relief so not to do so would mean the relief would be removed from the date the change occurred until Castle Morpeth are notified. 

Changes of circumstances must be advised within 4 weeks from the date of the change. Changes we need to be made aware of are 

-         Any increases in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer, which is not in the Castle Morpeth area. These changes must be notified in writing; and

-         If a ratepayer occupies any property that is not mentioned in their original application for relief. These changes have to be notified using a change of circumstances form. 

If you do not notify us of a relevant change in your circumstances then you will no longer be entitled to the relief. If you notify us after the 4-week period, you will lose relief from the day after the date of change until the day on which you notified us.