Business rates in Hastings

How many properties in Hastings pay business rates, what they are valued at, and how a bill is worked out.

The government's Valuation Office Agency sets the rateable value of a business premises, the government sets the business rates multiplier. Hastings Borough Council's only role is to calculate the bills using this information and to issue the bills.

Hastings Borough Council, Business rates, read 12 October 2026.

Rated properties in Hastings

On the 2026 rating list, Hastings has 3,620 rated properties with a combined rateable value of £75.9m a year. Half are valued at £6,900 or less. On the 2023 list the same properties came to £64.7m, so the revaluation raised the total by 17.3%.

The sectors are the statisticians’: “A sector consists of the following categories: retail, industrial and office (RIO), which is a categorisation commonly used by those in the surveying profession.HMRC statisticians have, in conjunction with operational colleagues, mapped each SCat code to one of the three categories. The 'other' category was created to cover SCat codes which could not be readily assigned to retail, office or industry.”

Property counts are rounded to the nearest 10, with counts between 1 and 4 suppressed and denoted by '[c]'. Total rateable values are rounded to the nearest £1000. Values below £500 are shown as 0. From the Valuation Office’s official statistics, Non-domestic rating: change in rateable value of rating lists, England and Wales, 2026 Revaluation (compiled list) (published 1 April 2026; Properties on the 2023 and 2026 non-domestic local rating lists in all sectors, England and Wales as at 25 March 2026). Open Government Licence v3.0.

We don’t show the rating list street by street. The Valuation Office publishes the list under its own terms, which limit what it may be used for, so this page doesn’t copy it. Every property’s entry, with its rateable value and how it was worked out, is on the Valuation Office’s Find a business rates valuation service.

What rateable value means

Business rates are based on your property’s ‘rateable value’.

This is its open market rental value on 1 April 2024, based on an estimate by the Valuation Office (VO).

You can find your rateable value and check how it was calculated.

Your local council calculates your business rates bill using a ‘multiplier’. Your rateable value is multiplied by this number to get your final bill.

There’s guidance on how to estimate your business rates.

Your bill may be reduced if your property’s eligible for business rates relief.

GOV.UK, How your rates are calculated, read 12 October 2026.

How a bill is worked out, 2026 to 2027

• Find the rateable value of your business property.
• Check which multiplier to use below.
• Multiply your rateable value by your multiplier. This shows you how much you will have to pay in business rates for the year (before any relief is deducted).
• Take away any business rates relief you’re entitled to. If your business rates are increasing as a result of a revaluation, this may include transitional relief so that changes to your bill are phased in gradually. You may also be eligible for other reliefs, such as supporting small business relief or a relief for pubs and live music venues.

GOV.UK, Estimate your business rates, read 12 October 2026.

If your property is in England, which multiplier you use depends on:

• your rateable value
• the type of business you run if your rateable value is below £500,000

If your rateable value is below £500,000

If you do not run a retail, leisure or hospitality business, use a multiplier of:

• 48 pence if your rateable value is £51,000 or more (up to £499,999)
• 43.2 pence if your rateable value is below £51,000

Your council may use a different multiplier to calculate your rates if you run a retail, hospitality or leisure business - for example, a shop, restaurant, café, bar, pub, cinema, music venue, gym, spa or hotel. These multipliers replace the retail, hospitality and leisure rates relief offered for the 2025 to 2026 billing year.

If you received the retail, hospitality and leisure rates relief, you will usually be eligible for these multipliers. You also can contact your local council to check if your property is eligible.

If your property is eligible, use the retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers of:

• 43 pence if your rateable value is £51,000 or more (up to £499,999)
• 38.2 pence if your rateable value is below £51,000

Example 1

Ben has a dental surgery in England. The rateable value of his business property is £60,000.

The property is not eligible to use a lower multiplier for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses.

The rateable value is between £51,000 and £499,999. So he uses a multiplier of 48 pence to estimate his business rates as follows:

£60,000 (rateable value) x £0.48 pence (multiplier) = £28,800 (basic business rates for the year)

Example 2

Barbara has a cafe in England. The rateable value of her business property is £110,000.

The property is eligible to use a lower multiplier for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.

The rateable value is more than £51,000. So she uses a multiplier of 43 pence to estimate her business rates as follows:

£110,000 (rateable value) x £0.43 (multiplier) = £47,300 (basic business rates for the year)

Barbara’s property received retail, hospitality and leisure relief in the 2025 to 2026 tax year. So she may be eligible for supporting small business relief, which limits how much her bills will go up by.

If your rateable value is £500,000 or more

Use a multiplier of 50.8 pence.

GOV.UK, Estimate your business rates, read 12 October 2026.

Small business rate relief

What GOV.UK says about who can get it. Whether a business does is for the council to decide.

You can get small business rate relief if:

• your property’s rateable value is less than £15,000
• your business only uses one property - you may still be able to get relief if you use more

You cannot get small business rate relief and charitable rate relief at the same time. Your local council will decide which type of relief you’re eligible for.

What you’ll get

How much small business rate relief you get depends on your property’s rateable value.

You will not pay business rates on a property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less, if that’s the only property your business uses.

For properties with a rateable value of £12,001 to £15,000, the rate of relief will go down gradually from 100% to 0%.

Example

If your rateable value is £13,500, you’ll get 50% off your bill. If your rateable value is £14,000, you’ll get 33% off.

If you use more than one property

When you get a second property, you’ll keep getting relief on your main property for:

• 12 months if you got the second property before 27th November 2025
• 36 months if you got the second property on or after 27th November 2025

You can still get small business rate relief on your main property after this if both the following apply:

• none of your other properties have a rateable value above £2,899
• the total rateable value of all your properties is less than £20,000 (£28,000 in London)

GOV.UK, Small business rate relief, read 12 October 2026.

Local councils make decisions on whether businesses are eligible for relief, send business rates bills and collect payments.

Contact your local council to find out what types of relief you can get and how to apply.

GOV.UK, Types of business rates relief, read 12 October 2026.

Hastings Borough Council lists the reliefs it gives on its relief and reductions page.

Check, challenge or appeal your valuation

Find your property, its rateable value and how it was worked out on the Valuation Office’s Find a business rates valuation service. To change it, GOV.UK sets out three steps.

1. Check

The Valuation Office holds factual details about your business properties, such as floor area and number of rooms or toilets. The rateable value of a property is calculated using these details.

You can raise a check case to tell the Valuation Office that the factual details about your property need changing.

You must add your property to your business rates valuation account before you can raise a check case.

If you disagree with the outcome, you can challenge the valuation. You have until 4 months after the Valuation Office has completed your check case to raise a challenge.

GOV.UK, Raising a check case to change your business property details, read 12 October 2026.

2. Challenge

You must raise a check case and receive a decision before you can start a challenge.

You can challenge the valuation of your non-domestic property:

• within 4 months of receiving a check case decision
• within 16 months of your check case submission if the challenge is about a change in the surrounding area (such as roadworks)
• if the Valuation Office has not made a decision on your check case after 12 months

You must have a valid reason, known as grounds, to send a challenge, such as:

• the valuation is wrong
• the property should not be valued at all
• the property needs to be split or merged
• the property details in the published list of business rates valuations are wrong
• the valuation is wrong due to a legal decision on another property

GOV.UK, Challenging your business rates valuation, read 12 October 2026.

3. Appeal

If you need to request changes to your rateable value, you need to first raise a check case with the VOA and then a challenge case. You can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if you disagree with the outcome of a challenge.

You must appeal the rateable value with the Valuation Tribunal within:

• 4 months of a challenge decision
• 18 months of you submitting a challenge if the VOA has not replied to you

When you submit your case to the Valuation Tribunal, you can only include the evidence you submitted during the check and challenge to the VOA.

The VOA will send a copy of your challenge and any other relevant documents to the Valuation Tribunal if they request it.

GOV.UK, Appealing your business rates to the Valuation Tribunal, read 12 October 2026.

Who to contact

• Hastings Borough Council: business rates

  Your bill, paying it, and relief. Email businessrates@hastings.gov.uk.

• The Valuation Office

  Your rateable value.