Transitional relief

Transitional relief is a Government scheme which ensures that large increases or large decreases in rates bills which are due to the revaluation are phased in gradually over a number of years.

At each revaluation, a transitional scheme is introduced to protect the ratepayer from sharp increases in their rates bill. This is because property values, which affect the rental potential of the property and therefore the rateable value on which rate bills are calculated, change a good deal between each revaluation. Transitional relief is designed to ease the impact of revaluation, by phasing in the changes to the rates bill over a period of time. To help pay for the limits on increases in bills after a revaluation, there are also limits on reductions in bills.

Under the 2010 transitional relief scheme, limits continue to apply to yearly increases and decreases during the life of the scheme until the full bill is payable (rateable value times the multiplier).

The transitional arrangements apply only to the bill based on your property at the time of the revaluation. If there are any changes to the rateable value of the property (eg because an extension has been added) after the revaluation date, transitional arrangements will not normally apply to the part of your bill that applies to any increase or decrease in rateable value due to those changes.

 The tables below show the maximum increases and decreases Business Rates bills in transition will be subject to during the course of the current scheme.

Maximum Annual Increases

Rate Year	Large Properties	Small Properties
2010/2011	12.5%	5%
2011/2012	17.5%	7.5%
2012/2013	20%	10%
2013/2014	25%	15%
2014/2015	25%	15%

 

Maximum Annual Decreases

Rate Year	Large Properties	Small Properties
2010/2011	4.6%	20%
2011/2012	6.7%	30%
2012/2013	7%	35%
2013/2014	13%	55%
2014/2015	13%	55%

The inflationary increase for 2012/2013 is 1.056% (1.047% for 2011/2012) inflation needs to be accounted for before transition is applied.