At the Budget on 26 November 2025, the Chancellor announced that the government would provide a package of measures to support businesses in England, worth an estimated £4.3 billion over the next five years. The government announced that, from April 2026, new retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) multipliers would be set 5p below the relevant national multipliers for qualifying properties with rateable values below £500k, funded by a high-value multiplier 2.8p above the national standard multiplier for properties with rateable values of £500,000 and above.
Non-domestic rating multipliers
The Non-Domestic Rating Multipliers for 2026/27 will be as follows:
- Small business RHL multiplier: 38.2p
- Small business non-domestic rating multiplier: 43.2p
- Standard RHL multiplier: 43.0p
- Standard non-domestic rating multiplier: 48.0p
- High-value non-domestic rating multiplier: 50.8p
To find details on which properties will qualify for the RHL multipliers, click here.
You do not need to contact Knowsley Council to request a RHL multiplier as the Business Rates Team are already in the process of identifying each business in Knowsley to confirm its eligibility. We may contact you for more information about your business.
Relief packages to support businesses
The Chancellor also announced that the government would provide a package of reliefs to support businesses.
For 2026/27, this includes:
- Transitional Relief – To support ratepayers facing large bill increases at the revaluation the government is introducing a redesigned Transitional Relief scheme worth £3.2 billion. A transitional relief scheme will also be in place from 1 April 2026, which will limit the increase in bills. Find out more about these changes here.
- Transitional Relief Supplement – a 1p supplement to the relevant tax rate for ratepayers who do not receive Transitional Relief or the Supporting Small Business scheme to partially fund Transitional Relief. This will apply for one year from 1 April 2026.
- 2026 Supporting Small Business Scheme (SSB relief) – Bill increases for businesses losing some or all of their small business rates relief or rural rate relief will be capped at the higher of £800 or the relevant transitional relief caps from 1 April 2026. The 2026 SSB relief scheme has been expanded to ratepayers losing their RHL relief. The government has also announced a one-year extension of the 2023 Supporting Small Business scheme from 1 April 2026. This support is applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.
- 100% relief for Eligible Electric Vehicle Charging Points and Electric Vehicle only forecourts (EVCP relief) – a ten-year 100% business rates relief for EVCPs separately assessed by the VOA and Electric Vehicle only forecourts to ensure that they face no business rates liability.
- A high-value business rates multiplier for properties with rateable values of £500k and above at 2.8p above the national standard multiplier.
- Extending the Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) grace-period from one to three years. Businesses taking on a second property after 27 November 2025 will retain SBRR on their original property for 3 years. Those who have taken on an additional property prior to this date will retain SBRR for 1 year.