Yorkshire and The Humber · 2025-26
Business Rates in Wakefield
Businesses in Wakefield paid £160.5m in net business rates during 2025-26, above the average English council's £93.2m.
Are you paying too much in Wakefield?
Check your rateable value and relief eligibility in about 60 seconds. Free, no sign-up.
Relief granted in Wakefield
Share of £35.0m total relief, 2025-26.
Wakefield at a glance
Wakefield granted £35.0m in relief overall, higher than the national council average of £26.3m. This included £13.0m in Small Business Rate Relief and £5.7m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief.
A further £8.6m went to charity relief and £6.0m to empty property relief, reflecting the mix of ratepayers across the local authority.
Wakefield has an estimated 10,060 active businesses, according to the latest ONS Business Counts (2025).
Wakefield ranks 59 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 Wakefield rose by 26.3% — if this pushed your assessment too high, an appeal may be worth considering.
Frequently asked questions
How much are business rates in Wakefield?
Wakefield's local authority collected £160.5m 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 Wakefield?
Wakefield granted £35.0m in business rates relief in 2025-26, including £13.0m in Small Business Rate Relief, £5.7m in retail, hospitality and leisure relief, £8.6m in charity relief, and £6.0m 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.
Wakefield compared with Yorkshire and The Humber, and England
- Average rateable value
- £30,809£6,166 above the Yorkshire and The Humber average (£24,643)£3,181 below the England average (£33,990)
- Largest sector by value
- Industrial property, 53.8%18.4 percentage points above its 35.4% share in Yorkshire and The Humber
- Total rateable value, 2023 to 2026 list
- +21.7%Yorkshire and The Humber: +17.8%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 £30,809, Wakefield's average rateable value ranks 126th of 296 councils in England and 3rd of 15 in Yorkshire and The Humber. The same sector leads on numbers too: 34.3% of Wakefield's rateable properties fall in the industrial category.
Retail accounts for 27.2% of Wakefield's rateable properties and 16.3% of its rateable value, compared with 24.8% and 21.7% across Yorkshire and The Humber. At March 2026, around 90 of Wakefield's rateable properties had a rateable value of £500,000 or more, rising to 120 on the 2026 list.
Change at the 2026 revaluation
Wakefield's +21.7% change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluation was stronger than in 13 of the 14 other councils in Yorkshire and The Humber. The sharpest increase in Wakefield was in industrial property, where total rateable value rose 26.3% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +22.9% for industrial property across Yorkshire and The Humber. No sector fell in Wakefield: retail property moved least, up 10.9% at the 2026 revaluation, compared with +7.8% for retail property across Yorkshire and The Humber.
Reliefs
In 2025-26, relief in Wakefield came to 17.6% 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 Wakefield, at 37.1% 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 Wakefield compares with the rest of the region: Business rates in Yorkshire and The Humber, State of Business Rates in England 2026 →
Nearby areas
Compare with other councils in Yorkshire and The Humber
Other Yorkshire and The Humber councils with their average rateable value, listed from the closest to Wakefield's £30,809.
- Business rates in Leeds£30,100 average rateable value, £709 lower than Wakefield
- Business rates in Doncaster£29,146 average rateable value, £1,663 lower than Wakefield
- Business rates in Sheffield£28,709 average rateable value, £2,100 lower than Wakefield
- Business rates in York UA£33,596 average rateable value, £2,787 higher than Wakefield
- Business rates in Rotherham£27,354 average rateable value, £3,455 lower than Wakefield
- Business rates in North Lincolnshire UA£38,630 average rateable value, £7,821 higher than Wakefield
Figures from MHCLG National Non-Domestic Rates statistics (2025-26), ONS UK Business Counts (2025), and English Indices of Deprivation (2025).
Updates for Wakefield
By email.