North West · 2025-26
Business Rates in Rochdale
Businesses in Rochdale paid £81.7m in net business rates during 2025-26, below the average English council's £93.2m.
Are you paying too much in Rochdale?
Check your rateable value and relief eligibility in about 60 seconds. Free, no sign-up.
Relief granted in Rochdale
Share of £22.8m total relief, 2025-26.
Rochdale at a glance
Rochdale granted £22.8m in relief overall, lower than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £9.9m in Small Business Rate Relief and £2.2m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £5.4m went to charity relief and £3.5m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Rochdale has an estimated 7,055 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Rochdale ranks 17 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 Rochdale rose by 28.1% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Rochdale?
Rochdale's local authority collected £81.7m 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 Rochdale?
Rochdale granted £22.8m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £9.9m in Small Business Rate Relief, £2.2m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £5.4m in charity relief, and £3.5m 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.
Rochdale compared with the North West and England
- Average rateable value
- £22,068£3,261 below the North West average (£25,329)£11,922 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Industrial property, 51.8%21.6 percentage points above its 30.2% share in the North West
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +21.4%North West: +19.3%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, Rochdale sits 231st among England's 296 councils at £22,068, which is 21st of 35 in the North West. The same sector leads on numbers too: 47.7% of Rochdale's rateable properties fall in the industrial category.
Retail makes up 22.6% of Rochdale's rateable properties and 17.0% of its rateable value, both below the 25.1% and 22.4% across the North West. At March 2026, around 50 of Rochdale's rateable properties had a rateable value of £500,000 or more, rising to around 70 on the 2026 list.
Change at the 2026 revaluation
Rochdale's +21.4% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation was stronger than in 30 of the 34 other councils in the North West. The sharpest increase in Rochdale was in industrial property, where total rateable value rose 28.1% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +24.7% for industrial property across the North West. No sector fell in Rochdale: retail property moved least, up 8.7% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +6.2% for retail property across the North West.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Rochdale came to 21.2% of gross rates payable, close to the 21.2% for England as a whole. Small Business Rate Relief was the largest of the four main reliefs in Rochdale, 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 Rochdale compares with the rest of the region: Business rates in North West, State of Business Rates in England 2026 →
Nearby areas
Compare with other councils in the North West
Other North West councils with their average rateable value, listed from the closest to Rochdale's £22,068.
- Business rates in Fylde£22,285 average rateable value, £217 higher than Rochdale
- Business rates in Wigan£22,499 average rateable value, £431 higher than Rochdale
- Business rates in Bury£21,451 average rateable value, £617 lower than Rochdale
- Business rates in Stockport£21,221 average rateable value, £847 lower than Rochdale
- Business rates in Chorley£20,767 average rateable value, £1,301 lower than Rochdale
- Business rates in Oldham£20,590 average rateable value, £1,478 lower than Rochdale
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Rochdale
By email.