Glossary · UK
What is Transitional Relief (Business Rates)?
A scheme that phases in large increases or decreases in business rates bills following a revaluation, so bills change gradually rather than all at once.
Full Definition
Transitional Relief is a scheme applied automatically by local authorities in England that limits how much a business rates bill can change in a single year immediately following a general revaluation of rateable values, phasing in large increases (and, in some revaluations, large decreases) gradually over several years rather than applying the full new bill straight away. It exists because a revaluation can shift a property's rateable value sharply if local commercial rents have moved a lot since the previous valuation, and without transitional relief some businesses could otherwise face a very large, sudden jump in their rates bill in a single year purely because of a revaluation rather than any change to their own premises. The specific percentage caps on annual increases and decreases are set by the government at each revaluation and vary by property size (typically more generous caps for smaller properties), so the exact limits should always be checked against the current scheme in place rather than assumed to be the same as a previous revaluation. Transitional relief is generally applied automatically to an eligible bill by the local authority rather than needing a separate claim, but ratepayers who are unsure whether it has been correctly applied to their bill should query it directly with their local authority or check current guidance on gov.uk.