Charities and not for profit organisations relief

You can get charitable rate relief if your property is mainly used for charitable purposes. There are two types of relief, which you can apply for.

Depending on your organisation’s circumstances, you may qualify for:

Mandatory rate relief

You can claim 80% off your business rates bill if your charity occupies a property mainly used for charitable purposes.

While we process your application, you must continue to pay your business rates until you hear from us.

Mandatory relief is available to:

registered charities
trustees of registered charities
not for profit organisations
community amateur sports clubs (CASCs)
community interest companies (CICs)
charity shops – if all or the majority of goods sold and money raised is used by the charity

Charities must be registered with the Charity Commission or be exempt from registration.

Community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) must be registered with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

You can also apply for discretionary relief which offers an extra up to 20% off your rates.

This means if we award you the full 20% discretionary rate and the 80% mandatory relief, you will receive 100% business rates relief.

It's our decision to award the full discretionary 20% relief or a smaller amount.

Before you apply, read our discretionary business rates policy – section 2.

While we process your application, you must continue to pay your business rates until you hear from us.

You can apply if your organisation’s activities are mainly charitable including:

Your application must include:

If your organisation is not officially registered, your application must explain why it is not registered.

You must also provide copies of your:

We will contact you by post or email within 14 days of our decision.

Our decision is final. There is no formal right of appeal for these discretionary reliefs.