South East · 2025-26
Business Rates in Maidstone
Businesses in Maidstone paid £62.7m in net business rates during 2025-26, below the average English council's £93.2m.
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Relief granted in Maidstone
Share of £19.9m total relief, 2025-26.
Maidstone at a glance
Maidstone granted £19.9m in relief overall, lower than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £5.4m in Small Business Rate Relief and £5.1m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £5.7m went to charity relief and £2.7m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Maidstone has an estimated 8,040 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Maidstone ranks 160 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 Maidstone rose by 17.8% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Maidstone?
Maidstone's local authority collected £62.7m 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 Maidstone?
Maidstone granted £19.9m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £5.4m in Small Business Rate Relief, £5.1m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £5.7m in charity relief, and £2.7m 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.
Maidstone compared with the South East and England
- Average rateable value
- £31,473£3,823 below the South East average (£35,296)£2,517 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Other commercial property, 34.8%2.3 percentage points above its 32.5% share in the South East
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +14.7%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
Maidstone comes 125th of 296 English councils on average rateable value (£31,473) and 38th of 64 in the South East. The same sector leads on numbers too: 29.3% of Maidstone's rateable properties fall in the other commercial category.
Retail accounts for 19.3% of Maidstone's rateable properties and 21.7% of its rateable value, compared with 22.5% and 20.7% across the South East. At March 2026, around 30 of Maidstone'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
Maidstone's +14.7% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation was weaker than in 48 of the 63 other councils in the South East. The sharpest increase in Maidstone was in office property, where total rateable value rose 20.5% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +16.8% for office property across the South East. No sector fell in Maidstone: retail property moved least, up 2.1% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +10.8% for retail property across the South East.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Maidstone came to 22.0% of gross rates payable, close to the 21.2% for England as a whole. Charity relief was the largest of the four main reliefs in Maidstone, at 28.6% of total relief, close to 29.7% 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 Maidstone 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 Maidstone's £31,473.
- Business rates in Mid Sussex£31,553 average rateable value, £80 higher than Maidstone
- Business rates in Surrey Heath£31,808 average rateable value, £335 higher than Maidstone
- Business rates in Dover£30,442 average rateable value, £1,031 lower than Maidstone
- Business rates in Winchester£32,555 average rateable value, £1,082 higher than Maidstone
- Business rates in South Oxfordshire£30,275 average rateable value, £1,198 lower than Maidstone
- Business rates in Eastbourne£29,043 average rateable value, £2,430 lower than Maidstone
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Maidstone
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