For UK pub & bar owners

Trade is down. Has your rates bill caught up?

Pubs are valued on the VOA's estimate of your fair maintainable trade — the takings they think a typical operator would make — not on floor space. If your trade has fallen, your rateable value may not have caught up. Check yours free: it takes a postcode, not an afternoon.

Free, instant check. No email required.

A lower bill could mean breathing room — the cellar cooling fixed before summer, a quieter quarter covered, time you are not spending on hold to the council.

VOA-Registered Agent

Free bill review

£29 council letter + VAT

Conditional VOA fee capped at £399 + VAT

Common Issues for Pubs & Bars

These are the most frequent problems we find when checking business rates for pubs & bars.

Pubs are valued on Fair Maintainable Trade (FMT) — the VOA's estimate of typical takings. If your trade has fallen below that estimate, your valuation may be too high.

Retail, Hospitality & Leisure (RHL) Relief is set by the government each year and applied by your council — but it is not always applied automatically or correctly.

The 2026 revaluation reassessed every pub using 1 April 2024 evidence — your new rateable value may not reflect how your site actually trades now.

Many smaller pubs qualify for Small Business Rate Relief but have never claimed it.

Reliefs That May Apply to Your Pub

We check every available relief as part of your property assessment. These are the most common for pubs & bars.

Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Relief

5p lower multiplier (2026-27)

Lower multipliers for qualifying occupied retail, hospitality and leisure properties in 2026-27, with separate backdated section 47 checks for 2023-26.

Small Business Rate Relief

Up to 100%

Up to 100% off the main property where its RV is under £15,000; additional properties can be permitted within individual and aggregate RV limits.

Empty Property Relief

100% (time-limited)

No rates to pay for the first 3 months your property is empty (6 months for warehouses and industrial).

What a review establishes

For a pub with a listed rateable value of £18,000, we first test the valuation and eligibility evidence.

Listed RV

£18,000

VOA starting point

Evidence review

Required

area, use, tone and relief facts

Bill result

After verification

full statutory calculation

Payable bill and savings are only shown after verification of the complete bill, including transition, relief interactions and local charges.

How We Help Pubs & Bars

Check

We compare your pub's rateable value against VOA data for similar properties and check for RHL Relief, Small Business Rate Relief.

Challenge

If we find you're overcharged, we write to your council to claim the relief you're owed.

Protect

Free property monitoring flags relevant changes. Any council or VOA work is scoped and priced separately.

Clear service pricing

Review free. Pay only for the next step you choose.

Council correction letter: £29 + VAT. Separately authorised VOA Challenge: 10% of confirmed liability savings, capped at £399 + VAT; £0 if there is no confirmed liability reduction.

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Pubs & Bars: Frequently Asked Questions

How are pub business rates actually calculated?

Pubs are valued using the Fair Maintainable Trade (FMT) method, not price-per-square-metre. The VOA estimates the level of trade a reasonably efficient operator would achieve at your premises, then applies a percentage to arrive at the rateable value. If your actual, sustainable trade is consistently below the level the VOA assumed, that can be grounds to check and challenge your valuation.

Could challenging my rates make my bill go up?

It is a fair question, and we will always be straight with you. A formal Challenge asks the VOA to review your valuation, and in a small number of cases a review can confirm or even increase a rateable value rather than reduce it. That is exactly why we Check first: we compare your valuation against VOA data for similar pubs before recommending any Challenge, so you can make an informed decision rather than challenging blind.

What SCAT code should my pub have?

Pubs are typically classified under SCAT code 226G (Public House) by the VOA. If your property has been misclassified under a different code, your valuation method and rateable value could be wrong. We check your SCAT code as part of every property assessment.

What is RHL Relief and does my pub qualify?

Retail, Hospitality & Leisure (RHL) Relief provides a discount on business rates for eligible properties in the hospitality sector, including pubs and bars. Eligibility and the discount level are set by the government each financial year. Your local council applies it, but it is not always automatic — you may need to apply or check it has been applied correctly.

I run more than one pub. Can I check them together?

Yes. If you operate several sites, you can check each one and see how its valuation compares against similar pubs in its own area, so you can focus attention where it may matter most. Each property is assessed on its own merits.

Also see business rates guides for:

Restaurants Hotels & Guest Houses Shops & Retail