Where the data comes from
- Stock of properties, March 2026. Published by HM Revenue & Customs, using Valuation Office Agency data. It counts the non-domestic properties on the rating list and their total rateable value, by council, region and sector.
- 2026 Revaluation, compiled list. Published by HM Revenue & Customs, using Valuation Office Agency data. It compares the 2023 rating list with the 2026 rating list by area and sector.
Both are official statistics on GOV.UK. We use only these published area totals. We never use the property-level rating list.
Some figures, such as averages, shares of a total, rankings and differences between areas, are calculated by us from the published totals. Everything else is shown as published.
Licence
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Two different bases
Figures labelled stock are the number and rateable value of properties at March 2026, on the 2023 rating list. Figures labelled revaluation compare the 2023 list with the 2026 list. We keep the two apart and never mix them in one figure, so a "stock" total and a "2026 list" total can differ.
Means, not medians
Where we show an average rateable value, it is the mean: total rateable value divided by the number of properties. It is not a median, so a small number of very large properties can pull it up. It describes an area as a whole, not a typical property.
Rounding
The releases round their figures before publishing, and they do this at every level, not only for councils. Property counts, including counts of properties at £500,000 and over, are given to the nearest 10 for every council, every region and England as a whole. Rateable values are given in whole thousands of pounds (to the nearest £1,000) at every level. Percentage changes are published to one decimal place. We show these figures as published and do not re-round them. Because each total is rounded separately rather than added up from the rounded parts, totals may not add up exactly: the council figures in a region, or the regions in England, can differ slightly from the total published for the larger area.
How often it updates
We check GOV.UK for new releases every day. The figures change only when a new release has passed our checks and been published to the site. The footer on data pages shows two dates: Data last updated is the date of the release behind the figures, and Data last checked is the last time we successfully looked for a new one. A recent "last checked" date with an older "last updated" date means we checked and there was nothing new.
A release for a new year or a new series is reviewed by a person before it is used.
If a release fails our checks
Before any release is used, we check that the files are complete and that the figures add up: council totals against regional and national totals, sectors against totals, published percentage changes against the underlying values, and earlier years against what was published before. If a release fails any check, we do not use it. The site keeps showing the last good figures, and we are alerted so we can look into it. We do not repair or guess at figures.
Where you can see these figures
The national picture is in our State of Business Rates in England 2026. The nine regions each have their own page: East Midlands, East of England, London, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and The Humber. Every English council has a page too, and you can find yours through Browse Business Rates by Area.
These are statistics about areas. They are not a valuation of any property, and not valuation, legal or tax advice.
Questions or corrections
If you spot a figure that looks wrong, or have a question about how we work it out, email hello@businessrateseligibility.co.uk.