South East · 2025-26
Business Rates in Thanet
Businesses in Thanet paid £38.0m in net business rates during 2025-26, below the average English council's £93.2m.
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Relief granted in Thanet
Share of £18.0m total relief, 2025-26.
Thanet at a glance
Thanet granted £18.0m in relief overall, lower than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £8.0m in Small Business Rate Relief and £2.1m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £4.6m went to charity relief and £2.0m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Thanet has an estimated 4,635 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Thanet ranks 26 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 Thanet rose by 14.8% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Thanet?
Thanet's local authority collected £38.0m 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 Thanet?
Thanet granted £18.0m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £8.0m in Small Business Rate Relief, £2.1m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £4.6m in charity relief, and £2.0m 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.
Thanet compared with the South East and England
- Average rateable value
- £18,862£16,434 below the South East average (£35,296)£15,128 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Other commercial property, 39.3%6.8 percentage points above its 32.5% share in the South East
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +17.0%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
On average rateable value, Thanet sits 256th among England's 296 councils at £18,862, which is 60th of 64 in the South East. The same sector leads on numbers too: 35.7% of Thanet's rateable properties fall in the other commercial category.
Retail makes up 26.8% of Thanet's rateable properties and 30.9% of its rateable value, both above the 22.5% and 20.7% across the South East. At March 2026, around 20 of Thanet's rateable properties had a rateable value of £500,000 or more, unchanged at around 20 on the 2026 list.
Change at the 2026 revaluation
Thanet's +17.0% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation sits mid-table in the South East: stronger than in 30 of the 63 other councils and weaker than in 32. The sharpest increase in Thanet was in office property, where total rateable value rose 20.9% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +16.8% for office property across the South East. No sector fell in Thanet: retail property moved least, up 14.8% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +10.8% for retail property across the South East.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Thanet came to 31.3% 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 Thanet, at 44.4% 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 Thanet 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 Thanet's £18,862.
- Business rates in Folkestone & Hythe£19,388 average rateable value, £526 higher than Thanet
- Business rates in Hastings£17,861 average rateable value, £1,001 lower than Thanet
- Business rates in Wealden£16,451 average rateable value, £2,411 lower than Thanet
- Business rates in Arun£21,445 average rateable value, £2,583 higher than Thanet
- Business rates in Isle of Wight Council UA£15,066 average rateable value, £3,796 lower than Thanet
- Business rates in Rother£13,050 average rateable value, £5,812 lower than Thanet
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Thanet
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