South East · 2025-26
Business Rates in Lewes
Businesses in Lewes paid £28.0m in net business rates during 2025-26, below the average English council's £93.2m.
Are you paying too much in Lewes?
Check your rateable value and relief eligibility in about 60 seconds. Free, no sign-up.
Relief granted in Lewes
Share of £13.1m total relief, 2025-26.
Lewes at a glance
Lewes granted £13.1m in relief overall, lower than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £4.8m in Small Business Rate Relief and £1.9m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £3.6m went to charity relief and £1.8m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Lewes has an estimated 4,245 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Lewes ranks 175 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 Lewes rose by 22.4% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Lewes?
Lewes's local authority collected £28.0m 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 Lewes?
Lewes granted £13.1m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £4.8m in Small Business Rate Relief, £1.9m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £3.6m in charity relief, and £1.8m 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.
Lewes compared with the South East and England
- Average rateable value
- £21,487£13,809 below the South East average (£35,296)£12,503 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Industrial property, 36.5%6.5 percentage points above its 30.0% share in the South East
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +19.2%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 £21,487, Lewes's average rateable value ranks 234th of 296 councils in England and 57th of 64 in the South East. The same sector leads on numbers too: 36.0% of Lewes's rateable properties fall in the industrial category.
Retail makes up 19.5% of Lewes's rateable properties and 19.3% of its rateable value, both below the 22.5% and 20.7% across the South East. At March 2026, around 10 of Lewes'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
Lewes's +19.2% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation was stronger than in 52 of the 63 other councils in the South East. The sharpest increase in Lewes was in industrial property, where total rateable value rose 22.4% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +19.9% for industrial property across the South East. No sector fell in Lewes: retail property moved least, up 15.5% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +10.8% for retail property across the South East.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Lewes came to 30.7% 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 Lewes, at 36.4% 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 Lewes 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 Lewes's £21,487.
- Business rates in Arun£21,445 average rateable value, £42 lower than Lewes
- Business rates in Tandridge£22,256 average rateable value, £769 higher than Lewes
- Business rates in Adur£23,182 average rateable value, £1,695 higher than Lewes
- Business rates in Wealden£16,451 average rateable value, £5,036 lower than Lewes
- Business rates in Isle of Wight Council UA£15,066 average rateable value, £6,421 lower than Lewes
- Business rates in Rother£13,050 average rateable value, £8,437 lower than Lewes
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Lewes
By email.