South East · 2025-26
Business Rates in Eastbourne
Businesses in Eastbourne paid £33.8m in net business rates during 2025-26, below the average English council's £93.2m.
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Relief granted in Eastbourne
Share of £12.9m total relief, 2025-26.
Eastbourne at a glance
Eastbourne granted £12.9m in relief overall, lower than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £3.9m in Small Business Rate Relief and £3.2m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £3.6m went to charity relief and £1.4m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Eastbourne has an estimated 3,040 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Eastbourne ranks 93 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 retail property in Eastbourne rose by 3.4% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Eastbourne?
Eastbourne's local authority collected £33.8m 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 Eastbourne?
Eastbourne granted £12.9m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £3.9m in Small Business Rate Relief, £3.2m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £3.6m in charity relief, and £1.4m 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.
Eastbourne compared with the South East and England
- Average rateable value
- £29,043£6,253 below the South East average (£35,296)£4,947 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Retail property, 40.4%19.7 percentage points above its 20.7% share in the South East
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +13.4%South East: +19.7%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
At £29,043, Eastbourne's average rateable value ranks 140th of 296 councils in England and 41st of 64 in the South East. The same sector leads on numbers too: 35.2% of Eastbourne's rateable properties fall in the retail category.
Retail makes up 35.2% of Eastbourne's rateable properties and 40.4% of its rateable value, both above the 22.5% and 20.7% across the South East. At March 2026, around 10 of Eastbourne's rateable properties had a rateable value of £500,000 or more, unchanged at around 10 on the 2026 list.
Change at the 2026 revaluation
Eastbourne's +13.4% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation was weaker than in 55 of the 63 other councils in the South East. The sharpest increase in Eastbourne was in office property, where total rateable value rose 39.8% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +16.8% for office property across the South East. No sector fell in Eastbourne: retail property moved least, up 3.4% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +10.8% for retail property across the South East.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Eastbourne came to 26.9% of gross rates payable, above the 21.2% for England as a whole. Small Business Rate Relief was the largest of the four main reliefs in Eastbourne, at 30.4% 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 Eastbourne compares with the rest of the region: Business rates in South East, State of Business Rates in England 2026 →
Nearby areas
Compare with other councils in the South East
Other South East councils with their average rateable value, listed from the closest to Eastbourne's £29,043.
- Business rates in South Oxfordshire£30,275 average rateable value, £1,232 higher than Eastbourne
- Business rates in Brighton & Hove UA£27,771 average rateable value, £1,272 lower than Eastbourne
- Business rates in Dover£30,442 average rateable value, £1,399 higher than Eastbourne
- Business rates in Havant£27,166 average rateable value, £1,877 lower than Eastbourne
- Business rates in Waverley£26,956 average rateable value, £2,087 lower than Eastbourne
- Business rates in Maidstone£31,473 average rateable value, £2,430 higher than Eastbourne
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Eastbourne
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