Guide · 2026 rating list

How to check your 2026 rateable value

Your rateable value is on your business rates bill and on GOV.UK’s free Find a business rates valuation service. To tell whether it’s right, check the facts (floor area, use, parking) and compare the price per m² the Valuation Office used with similar properties nearby. Our free checker does the comparison in about 30 seconds.

1. Find your rateable value

Search your postcode on GOV.UK’s Find a business rates valuation, or use our free check above. The 2026 rating list took effect on 1 April 2026 and is based on rental values at 1 April 2024. It runs until 31 March 2029.

2. Open the summary valuation

Most shops, offices, workshops and warehouses have a published summary valuation: a line for each part of the building, its floor area in m², and the price per m² applied. Shops are usually valued using Zone A: the front 6.1 metres of sales space carries the highest rate, and space further back is worth progressively less. Offices and industrial units are usually valued on a single overall price per m². Pubs, hotels and other trade-related property are valued differently, from what the business could be expected to take.

3. Check the facts

Are the floor areas right? Measure if you can; mistakes here are common and the easiest to fix.
Is the use right (for example, storage counted as sales space)?
Are parking spaces, mezzanines and extras listed correctly?

Wrong facts are corrected through a Check, which is free on GOV.UK.

4. Compare the price per m²

GOV.UK says to compare your valuation with similar properties by location, age, size, purpose and differences. Look for properties of the same type, measured the same way, on your street or nearby. If similar properties carry a clearly lower price per m², that is the kind of evidence a Challenge needs.

Is your rateable value right? Check it free.

Compare your 2026 rateable value with similar properties nearby. About 30 seconds, no sign-up, no card.

5. Decide whether it’s worth challenging

A lower value only saves money if it lowers your bill. If small business rate relief already takes your bill to £0 (in England, one property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less), a challenge won’t save you anything. Use the business rates calculator to see what a lower value would change. A Challenge can lower, keep or raise a rateable value.

Questions

Where do I find my rateable value?

On your business rates bill from the council, or free on GOV.UK’s “Find a business rates valuation” service. Our free check also shows it, with the floor area and price per m² behind it.

How is my rateable value calculated?

It is the Valuation Office’s estimate of the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on 1 April 2024. For most shops, offices and industrial property it is worked out from floor area multiplied by a price per m², adjusted for features such as parking.

Is my rateable value too high?

Compare the price per m² applied to your property with similar properties nearby, and check that the floor areas and uses are right. If the facts are wrong, raise a Check. If similar properties are valued at a clearly lower rate, you may have grounds for a Challenge.

Does a higher rateable value mean a higher bill?

Not always. At revaluation the multipliers change too, and reliefs such as small business rate relief and transitional relief can change what you pay. GOV.UK notes that a change in rateable value does not always mean a change in your bill.

Sources

Checked against GOV.UK and Business Wales on 13 October 2026. Rules change; if anything differs, GOV.UK and your council are right. Rightly Rated is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Valuation Office, HMRC or any council.

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Rightly Rated is a self-serve evidence tool, not a rating surveyor or adviser. Figures come from the Valuation Office’s published 2026 rating list and from what you tell us. We do not act for you with the Valuation Office, and a challenge can lower, keep or raise a rateable value.