South West · 2025-26
Business Rates in Forest of Dean
Businesses in Forest of Dean paid £17.5m in net business rates during 2025-26, below the average English council's £93.2m.
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Relief granted in Forest of Dean
Share of £10.2m total relief, 2025-26.
Forest of Dean at a glance
Forest of Dean granted £10.2m in relief overall, lower than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £4.4m in Small Business Rate Relief and £1.2m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £2.6m went to charity relief and £1.0m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Forest of Dean has an estimated 3,770 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Forest of Dean ranks 144 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 Forest of Dean rose by 18.8% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Forest of Dean?
Forest of Dean's local authority collected £17.5m 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 Forest of Dean?
Forest of Dean granted £10.2m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £4.4m in Small Business Rate Relief, £1.2m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £2.6m in charity relief, and £1.0m 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.
Forest of Dean compared with the South West and England
- Average rateable value
- £15,157£8,787 below the South West average (£23,944)£18,833 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Industrial property, 50.1%19.3 percentage points above its 30.8% share in the South West
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +17.6%South West: +17.7%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
Forest of Dean ranks 285th of 296 English councils for average rateable value, at £15,157, and 22nd of 27 in the South West. The same sector leads on numbers too: 42.2% of Forest of Dean's rateable properties fall in the industrial category.
Retail makes up 16.1% of Forest of Dean's rateable properties and 12.3% of its rateable value, both below the 20.1% and 22.7% across the South West. At March 2026, around 10 of Forest of Dean'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
Forest of Dean's +17.6% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation sits mid-table in the South West: stronger than in 16 of the 26 other councils and weaker than in 9. The sharpest increase in Forest of Dean was in other commercial property, where total rateable value rose 20.7% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +23.0% for other commercial property across the South West. No sector fell in Forest of Dean: office property moved least, up 5.6% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +18.7% for office property across the South West.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Forest of Dean came to 37.6% 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 Forest of Dean, at 43.2% 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 Forest of Dean compares with the rest of the region: Business rates in South West, State of Business Rates in England 2026 →
Nearby areas
Compare with other councils in the South West
Other South West councils with their average rateable value, listed from the closest to Forest of Dean's £15,157.
- Business rates in North Devon£15,284 average rateable value, £127 higher than Forest of Dean
- Business rates in South Hams£14,795 average rateable value, £362 lower than Forest of Dean
- Business rates in Cornwall UA£14,496 average rateable value, £661 lower than Forest of Dean
- Business rates in West Devon£14,343 average rateable value, £814 lower than Forest of Dean
- Business rates in Torridge£11,287 average rateable value, £3,870 lower than Forest of Dean
- Business rates in Isles of Scilly£8,791 average rateable value, £6,366 lower than Forest of Dean
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Forest of Dean
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