State of Business Rates in England 2026 · 33 councils
Business rates in London
London has, by a wide margin, the highest business rates of any English region. The average business rateable value across London's 33 boroughs is £64,921 at March 2026 — nearly double the South East, the next most expensive region, and 2.30 times the average for the rest of England combined. London's 314,050 rateable business properties carry a combined rateable value of over £20.4 billion, close to 30% of England's entire commercial property tax base, from just 15.6% of the country's rateable properties.
Within London, value is itself highly concentrated. City of London tops not just the capital but the whole of England, with an average business rateable value of £151,053 per property — more than four times the England average. Westminster follows at £130,876, and Hillingdon at £94,914. At the other end of the capital, outer boroughs like Redbridge (£25,550), Harrow (£25,848) and Lewisham (£27,414) sit far closer to the national picture than to their central London neighbours — a reminder that London business rates cover an enormous internal range.
The 2026 revaluation raised London's total rateable value by more than any other region: up 22.5% from the 2023 list to the 2026 list, against 19.6% for England as a whole and 16.4% in the East Midlands, the smallest regional rise. Hillingdon's total more than doubled, up 101.9%.
London is also home to the country's highest concentration of very high-value commercial property. Of the 16,900 English properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or more at March 2026, 6,160 — 36% of the national total — sit within London's boundaries, despite the capital holding under 30% of total rateable value. Westminster alone accounts for 1,700 of these properties, roughly one in ten nationally, and City of London a further 1,080.
For businesses assessing commercial property costs in the capital, this data underlines a simple point: London's business rates burden is not evenly spread. A property's borough, and its use class, matters more here than almost anywhere else in England.
Sector mix
Offices account for 45.4% of London's total rateable value — nearly double the England-wide average of 23.0% — reflecting the capital's status as the country's dominant commercial office market. Industrial property, by contrast, makes up just 11.1% of London's value, the lowest share of any English region, since the boroughs simply don't have the warehouse and distribution land that drives industrial value elsewhere.
At the 2026 revaluation, office values, the backbone of London's tax base, rose 14.4%, in line with England's 14.6%. Industrial property, though a small share of London's total, rose 24.4%, ahead of England's 21.4%, and retail rose 13.6%, ahead of England's 10.0%. Other commercial uses rose 44.5%, the largest sector rise of any region and more than England's 28.5%.
All 33 councils in London
| Council | Average rateable value, March 2026Average RV | Change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluationChange | Rank in EnglandRank |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of London | £151,053 | +12.4% | 1 of 296 |
| Westminster | £130,876 | +22.6% | 2 of 296 |
| Hillingdon | £94,914 | +101.9% | 3 of 296 |
| Camden | £83,768 | +24.5% | 5 of 296 |
| Kensington & Chelsea | £76,321 | +24.3% | 8 of 296 |
| Southwark | £63,624 | +17.2% | 13 of 296 |
| Hounslow | £61,024 | +19.3% | 16 of 296 |
| Newham | £58,457 | +22.0% | 19 of 296 |
| Islington | £57,512 | +19.4% | 20 of 296 |
| Tower Hamlets | £57,398 | +14.1% | 21 of 296 |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | £56,779 | +13.1% | 22 of 296 |
| Lambeth | £49,473 | +26.6% | 37 of 296 |
| Barking & Dagenham | £46,375 | +17.0% | 44 of 296 |
| Enfield | £45,159 | +15.7% | 46 of 296 |
| Kingston-upon-Thames | £44,692 | +15.5% | 48 of 296 |
| Merton | £44,261 | +20.6% | 50 of 296 |
| Wandsworth | £43,865 | +20.4% | 51 of 296 |
| Sutton | £43,099 | +18.8% | 56 of 296 |
| Greenwich | £42,298 | +25.9% | 58 of 296 |
| Bexley | £42,138 | +16.3% | 60 of 296 |
| Brent | £41,303 | +20.7% | 64 of 296 |
| Richmond-upon-Thames | £39,824 | +14.2% | 67 of 296 |
| Ealing | £39,706 | +21.6% | 68 of 296 |
| Hackney | £38,317 | +16.3% | 76 of 296 |
| Croydon | £38,157 | +17.1% | 80 of 296 |
| Barnet | £36,315 | +13.2% | 87 of 296 |
| Havering | £36,157 | +13.9% | 90 of 296 |
| Bromley | £32,748 | +17.7% | 112 of 296 |
| Haringey | £29,016 | +22.6% | 141 of 296 |
| Waltham Forest | £27,768 | +16.1% | 153 of 296 |
| Lewisham | £27,414 | +16.6% | 157 of 296 |
| Harrow | £25,848 | +19.6% | 180 of 296 |
| Redbridge | £25,550 | +16.3% | 184 of 296 |
Averages are means: total rateable value divided by the number of properties, so a small number of very high-value properties can pull them up. Ranks are by average rateable value.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs, using Valuation Office Agency data: 'Non-domestic rating: stock of properties, March 2026' and 'Non-domestic rating: change in rateable value of rating lists, England and Wales, 2026 Revaluation (compiled list)' — Open Government Licence v3.0
Other regions
- South East£35,296
- East of England£32,135
- East Midlands£28,602
- West Midlands£28,222
- North West£25,329
- Yorkshire and The Humber£24,643
- North East£24,511
- South West£23,944
Read the national report: State of Business Rates in England 2026 →
Latest: Business rates at the 2026 revaluation: what the official figures show (17 October 2026)
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