West Midlands · 2025-26
Business Rates in Lichfield
Businesses in Lichfield paid £45.3m in net business rates during 2025-26, below the average English council's £93.2m.
Are you paying too much in Lichfield?
Check your rateable value and relief eligibility in about 60 seconds. Free, no sign-up.
Relief granted in Lichfield
Share of £10.2m total relief, 2025-26.
Lichfield at a glance
Lichfield granted £10.2m in relief overall, lower than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £3.9m in Small Business Rate Relief and £1.7m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £2.6m went to charity relief and £1.4m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Lichfield has an estimated 4,815 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Lichfield ranks 237 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 Lichfield rose by 24.7% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Lichfield?
Lichfield's local authority collected £45.3m 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 Lichfield?
Lichfield granted £10.2m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £3.9m in Small Business Rate Relief, £1.7m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £2.6m 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.
Lichfield compared with the West Midlands and England
- Average rateable value
- £32,927£4,705 above the West Midlands average (£28,222)£1,063 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Industrial property, 52.8%13.1 percentage points above its 39.7% share in the West Midlands
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +20.9%West Midlands: +17.4%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, Lichfield sits 109th among England's 296 councils at £32,927, which is 11th of 30 in the West Midlands. The same sector leads on numbers too: 31.0% of Lichfield's rateable properties fall in the industrial category.
Retail makes up 22.3% of Lichfield's rateable properties and 15.5% of its rateable value, both below the 24.2% and 20.1% across the West Midlands. At March 2026, around 30 of Lichfield's rateable properties had a rateable value of £500,000 or more, rising to around 40 on the 2026 list.
Change at the 2026 revaluation
Lichfield's +20.9% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation was stronger than in 26 of the 29 other councils in the West Midlands. The sharpest increase in Lichfield was in industrial property, where total rateable value rose 24.7% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +20.7% for industrial property across the West Midlands. No sector fell in Lichfield: retail property moved least, up 9.4% at the 2026 revaluation, in line with the +9.7% across the West Midlands.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Lichfield came to 18.8% of gross rates payable, below the 21.2% for England as a whole. Small Business Rate Relief was the largest of the four main reliefs in Lichfield, at 37.8% 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 Lichfield compares with the rest of the region: Business rates in West Midlands, State of Business Rates in England 2026 →
Nearby areas
Compare with other councils in the West Midlands
Other West Midlands councils with their average rateable value, listed from the closest to Lichfield's £32,927.
- Business rates in Worcester£33,921 average rateable value, £994 higher than Lichfield
- Business rates in Nuneaton & Bedworth£31,763 average rateable value, £1,164 lower than Lichfield
- Business rates in Redditch£34,676 average rateable value, £1,749 higher than Lichfield
- Business rates in Telford & Wrekin UA£35,212 average rateable value, £2,285 higher than Lichfield
- Business rates in Stafford£30,506 average rateable value, £2,421 lower than Lichfield
- Business rates in South Staffordshire£30,225 average rateable value, £2,702 lower than Lichfield
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Lichfield
By email.