London · 2025-26
Business Rates in Kensington & Chelsea
Businesses in Kensington & Chelsea paid £285.6m in net business rates during 2025-26, above the average English council's £93.2m.
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Relief granted in Kensington & Chelsea
Share of £72.3m total relief, 2025-26.
Kensington & Chelsea at a glance
Kensington & Chelsea granted £72.3m in relief overall, higher than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £4.8m in Small Business Rate Relief and £27.3m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £24.4m went to charity relief and £12.7m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Kensington & Chelsea has an estimated 12,830 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Kensington & Chelsea ranks 130 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 Kensington & Chelsea rose by 20.8% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Kensington & Chelsea?
Kensington & Chelsea's local authority collected £285.6m 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 Kensington & Chelsea?
Kensington & Chelsea granted £72.3m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £4.8m in Small Business Rate Relief, £27.3m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £24.4m in charity relief, and £12.7m 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.
Kensington & Chelsea compared with London and England
- Average rateable value
- £76,321£11,400 above the London average (£64,921)£42,331 above the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Retail property, 37.5%17.8 percentage points above its 19.7% share in London
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +24.3%London: +22.5%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
Kensington & Chelsea ranks 8th of 296 English councils for average rateable value, at £76,321, and 5th of 33 in London. The same sector leads on numbers too: 33.7% of Kensington & Chelsea's rateable properties fall in the retail category.
Retail makes up 33.7% of Kensington & Chelsea's rateable properties and 37.5% of its rateable value, both above the 28.9% and 19.7% across London. At March 2026, Kensington & Chelsea had 190 properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or more, 11th most of any English council and 1.1% of England's 16,900, and 270 on the 2026 list.
Change at the 2026 revaluation
Kensington & Chelsea's +24.3% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation was stronger than in 28 of the 32 other councils in London. The sharpest increase in Kensington & Chelsea was in other commercial property, where total rateable value rose 32.0% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +44.5% for other commercial property across London. No sector fell in Kensington & Chelsea: office property moved least, up 19.3% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +14.4% for office property across London.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Kensington & Chelsea came to 19.6% of gross rates payable, below the 21.2% for England as a whole. Retail, hospitality and leisure relief was the largest of the four main reliefs in Kensington & Chelsea, at 37.8% of total relief, above 18.5% 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 Kensington & Chelsea compares with the rest of the region: Business rates in London, State of Business Rates in England 2026 →
Nearby areas
Compare with other councils in London
Other London councils with their average rateable value, listed from the closest to Kensington & Chelsea's £76,321.
- Business rates in Camden£83,768 average rateable value, £7,447 higher than Kensington & Chelsea
- Business rates in Newham£58,457 average rateable value, £17,864 lower than Kensington & Chelsea
- Business rates in Hillingdon£94,914 average rateable value, £18,593 higher than Kensington & Chelsea
- Business rates in Islington£57,512 average rateable value, £18,809 lower than Kensington & Chelsea
- Business rates in Westminster£130,876 average rateable value, £54,555 higher than Kensington & Chelsea
- Business rates in City of London£151,053 average rateable value, £74,732 higher than Kensington & Chelsea
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Kensington & Chelsea
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