The Colliers property consultancy wants the government to cancel its planned business rates surcharge on bigger businesses and reform the system.

A spokesperson says: “The Chancellor should cancel proposals for a new complicated system of multipliers … and in particular the higher surcharge planned for bigger businesses if she is truly serious about …saving the High Street.

“If the Chancellor does not, we will see more businesses going into administration, across the board.”

Colliers urges the Chancellor to:

Abandon plans for a new complicated system of five multipliers as outlined in the recent Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools Act) 2025; a system to be introduced to compensate the smaller retail, hospitality and leisure properties who are losing all their reliefs next April, by offering them “permanently lower business rates multipliers”.

Announce a Road Map for Reform – to reduce the multiplier long term to 35p. The multiplier used to calculate rate bills should be reduced across the board for all sectors of business. Business rates are not linked to performance and property occupiers must pay them before they have earned a penny of income. Currently with multipliers at 49.9p and 55.5 for small and large businesses respectively, business rates are unacceptably high compared to the multiplier rate of 34p when introduced in 1990. 

Review Reliefs– Reducing the multiplier to an affordable level would preclude the need for many of the complicated reliefs most of which have been made necessary by the unaffordable level of the tax and to stave off disaster in the short term. 

These reliefs have led to business rates deserts whereby 700,000 property occupiers out of 2.1 million pay no business rates all. Everyone that benefits from local public services should contribute to their maintenance but at a fair rate. Reliefs should also be reviewed every three years as a minimum to ensure they do not outlive their purpose.

Reform The Appeal System –The Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) appeals system remains slow and overloaded. 

Nine months before the 2026 list, 56% of the 35,910 lodged Challenges were unresolved; only 26% had been cleared. 

Our own surveyors confirm long delays. Checks which should be processed with 3 months are taking 10-12 and challenges are also delayed.

Extend Empty Property Rates Relief to Twelve Months and to Other Sectors-The current empty property relief period is too short. Many property owners take up to 12 months to find an appropriate tenant for their properties. The Chancellor should therefore extend the three- and six-month empty rates holidays to twelve months with 50% relief thereafter and to do this for all property types including the offices and retail sectors too.

Round up the cowboys – Business rates advisors are among the only providers of financial advice that do not need a license to practice. Smaller businesses in particular fall victim to cowboy rating advisors because the system is too complicated to understand without professional help. Rogue agents often take upfront payments with the promise of lowering rates bills, before disappearing with their fees.