The 2026 business rates revaluation, based on April 2025 rental values, will hit small and medium firms with an average 18 % rise – adding £1.2 billion to bills across England and Wales. The Valuation Office Agency’s draft ratings already show high-street shops facing 25–40 % increases in cities where rents recovered fastest. Meanwhile, empty Amazon warehouses in low-rent areas see cuts.
Independent retailers, already paying 48–52 p in the pound on every rent, cannot absorb another hike. The British Independent Retailers Association predicts 14,000 permanent shop closures in 
2026–27 if nothing changes. That is one in seven independent stores gone.
The system is broken. Rates are meant to reflect 2008-style rental values, yet the 2026 list uses peak 2025 rents while offering no transitional relief for rises (only for falls). Large distribution warehouses get automatic relief; the corner shop gets nothing.
We demand four immediate reforms:
- Freeze the Uniform Business Rate multiplier at 49.9 p until 2030.
- Extend 75 % rates relief to all properties with rateable value under £150,000 – covering 92 % of independent retailers at a cost of £1.8 bn/year, fully offset by closing online giant loopholes.
- Permanent 100 % relief for any property empty less than six months to stop “pop-up” abuse.
- Annual revaluations from 2027 so rates never again get this far out of step.
This is not asking for favours; it is asking for fairness. Germany caps rates at 0.5–1 % of property value. France offers 50–100 % relief for small shops. Britain taxes bricks-and-mortar businesses into the ground while Amazon pays less rates on a 1-million-sq-ft warehouse than a village post office.
Another 14,000 empty shops will kill high streets for good. Act now or watch town centres die.
The 1832 Club is fighting for these changes. The more members we have, the louder our voice in Westminster.
Join today from just £5/month or £40/year and help to support pro-SME candidates.
Together we can make a difference.