Improvement relief is designed to:
- support businesses who have invested in their property
- provide relief from higher business rates bills, where the increase in your bill was due to making certain improvements to your property
- last for 12 months from when the improvement works were completed
How to receive improvement relief
You don't need to apply for improvement relief.
We'll automatically apply the relief for you, following notification from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) after a two-step process.
Step 1
You must meet the improvement relief criteria listed in the VOA technical manual for the rating of business property.
You'll then receive a certificate of qualifying works from the VOA and they will send this information to us.
Step 2
Once the certificate has been issued by the VOA, billing authorities need to assess if the ratepayer also meets the occupation condition. They need to be satisfied that in the period since qualifying works commenced:
- the property has remained occupied
- the rate payer has not changed
If you meet these conditions, we'll apply the relief and send you a revised business rates bill.
Who to contact if you have questions about your certificate
Contact business.rates@bristol.gov.uk if you have questions about the occupation condition or your business rates bill.
You cannot appeal the certified values. Contact the VOA if you have other questions, using the email address on your certificate.