East of England · 2025-26
Business Rates in Braintree
Businesses in Braintree paid £55.1m in net business rates during 2025-26, below the average English council's £93.2m.
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Relief granted in Braintree
Share of £15.7m total relief, 2025-26.
Braintree at a glance
Braintree granted £15.7m in relief overall, lower than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £6.5m in Small Business Rate Relief and £2.9m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £3.8m went to charity relief and £2.0m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Braintree has an estimated 6,600 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Braintree ranks 178 out of 296 local authorities in England on the 2025 Index of Multiple Deprivation, where 1 is most deprived and 296 is least deprived.
Following the 2026 revaluation, the total rateable value of industrial property in Braintree rose by 18.4% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Braintree?
Braintree's local authority collected £55.1m in net business rates income during 2025-26, based on the national multiplier applied to each property's rateable value, less any relief granted.
What reliefs are available in Braintree?
Braintree granted £15.7m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £6.5m in Small Business Rate Relief, £2.9m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £3.8m in charity relief, and £2.0m in empty property relief.
How do I know if I'm overpaying?
If your rateable value looks high compared to similar properties nearby, or you're not currently receiving relief you may be entitled to, it's worth checking your assessment. Use our free checker to compare your rateable value and see if you may be eligible for a reduction or backdated refund.
Braintree compared with the East of England and England
- Average rateable value
- £26,598£5,537 below the East of England average (£32,135)£7,392 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Industrial property, 46.9%12.3 percentage points above its 34.6% share in the East of England
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +16.3%East of England: +18.3%England: +19.6%
Counts and rateable values are from the stock of properties at March 2026, on the 2023 rating list. Changes are from the 2026 revaluation, comparing the 2023 rating list with the 2026 rating list.
Property mix
On average rateable value, Braintree sits 172nd among England's 296 councils at £26,598, which is 28th of 45 in the East of England. The same sector leads on numbers too: 39.1% of Braintree's rateable properties fall in the industrial category.
Retail accounts for 19.5% of Braintree's rateable properties and 20.8% of its rateable value, compared with 20.6% and 18.7% across the East of England. At March 2026, around 20 of Braintree's rateable properties had a rateable value of £500,000 or more, rising to around 30 on the 2026 list.
Change at the 2026 revaluation
Braintree's +16.3% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation sits mid-table in the East of England: stronger than in 20 of the 44 other councils and weaker than in 23. The sharpest increase in Braintree was in industrial property, where total rateable value rose 18.4% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +20.2% for industrial property across the East of England. No sector fell in Braintree: retail property moved least, up 10.5% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +9.8% for retail property across the East of England.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Braintree came to 21.2% of gross rates payable, close to the 21.2% for England as a whole. Small Business Rate Relief was the largest of the four main reliefs in Braintree, at 41.2% of total relief, above 28.0% across England.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs, using Valuation Office Agency data, and MHCLG relief returns. Open Government Licence v3.0. Method and rounding: /methodology.
See how Braintree compares with the rest of the region: Business rates in East of England, State of Business Rates in England 2026 →
Nearby areas
Compare with other councils in the East of England
Other East of England councils with their average rateable value, listed from the closest to Braintree's £26,598.
- Business rates in East Cambridgeshire£26,894 average rateable value, £296 higher than Braintree
- Business rates in Mid Suffolk£26,226 average rateable value, £372 lower than Braintree
- Business rates in Norwich£27,092 average rateable value, £494 higher than Braintree
- Business rates in East Hertfordshire£27,244 average rateable value, £646 higher than Braintree
- Business rates in Colchester£28,342 average rateable value, £1,744 higher than Braintree
- Business rates in Fenland£24,510 average rateable value, £2,088 lower than Braintree
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Braintree
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