State of Business Rates in England 2026 · 35 councils
Business rates in North West
The North West has an average business rateable value of £25,329 at March 2026 across 35 councils and 288,600 rateable properties — the third-largest property count of any English region after London and the South East — with a total commercial rateable value of £7.31 billion, the third-highest regional total in England.
Knowsley (£40,696), Halton (£39,065) and Warrington (£38,215) lead the region — all logistics and distribution-heavy authorities along the M56/M62 corridor near Liverpool and Manchester. Manchester itself, despite its scale — 27,170 rateable properties and £994 million in total rateable value, the sixth-highest of any English council — sits below these smaller, logistics-dominated neighbours on a per-property average, at £36,591. At the lower end, Burnley (£15,358), Pendle (£15,221) and Rossendale (£14,685) — former textile-manufacturing towns in East Lancashire — hold some of the lowest average commercial property values in England.
The 2026 revaluation lifted the North West's total rateable value by 19.3%, in line with England's 19.6%.
The region holds 1,560 properties valued at £500,000 or more at March 2026, 9.2% of the national total, from 35 councils — the second-highest number of high-value properties of any region outside London and the South East, split across Manchester, Liverpool and the region's motorway-corridor logistics hubs.
For businesses in the North West, value is shaped less by a single dominant city than by a network of logistics corridors — Manchester and Liverpool matter for volume, but the highest per-property values sit in smaller distribution-focused councils around them.
Sector mix
The region's sector mix is fairly evenly split: other uses lead at 32.5% of total value at March 2026, industrial follows at 30.2%, retail at 22.4% — the third-highest retail share of any English region, after the North East and South West — and office at 14.9%.
At the 2026 revaluation industrial property rose 24.7%, joint-largest of any region with the North East and ahead of England's 21.4%, and offices rose 14.6%, in line with England's 14.6%. Other commercial uses rose 25.6%, behind England's 28.5%, and retail rose just 6.2%, behind England's 10.0%.
All 35 councils in North West
| Council | Average rateable value, March 2026Average RV | Change in total rateable value at the 2026 revaluationChange | Rank in EnglandRank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowsley | £40,696 | +18.7% | 66 of 296 |
| Halton UA | £39,065 | +20.1% | 72 of 296 |
| Warrington UA | £38,215 | +17.7% | 79 of 296 |
| Manchester | £36,591 | +26.0% | 86 of 296 |
| Cheshire West and Chester UA | £32,859 | +17.1% | 110 of 296 |
| Trafford | £32,698 | +23.2% | 113 of 296 |
| St Helens | £31,876 | +18.7% | 117 of 296 |
| Lancaster | £31,654 | +25.6% | 122 of 296 |
| South Ribble | £31,474 | +16.1% | 124 of 296 |
| Liverpool | £27,663 | +21.4% | 154 of 296 |
| West Lancashire | £26,660 | +16.6% | 171 of 296 |
| Cheshire East UA | £25,164 | +15.9% | 188 of 296 |
| Salford | £24,727 | +19.8% | 191 of 296 |
| Preston | £23,466 | +14.4% | 210 of 296 |
| Sefton | £23,159 | +15.4% | 214 of 296 |
| Wirral | £22,714 | +15.2% | 219 of 296 |
| Bolton | £22,688 | +17.7% | 220 of 296 |
| Cumberland | £22,613 | +15.2% | 221 of 296 |
| Wigan | £22,499 | +19.6% | 222 of 296 |
| Fylde | £22,285 | +17.7% | 226 of 296 |
| Rochdale | £22,068 | +21.4% | 231 of 296 |
| Bury | £21,451 | +17.5% | 235 of 296 |
| Stockport | £21,221 | +16.1% | 238 of 296 |
| Chorley | £20,767 | +17.8% | 240 of 296 |
| Oldham | £20,590 | +18.6% | 241 of 296 |
| Tameside | £20,292 | +15.5% | 244 of 296 |
| Hyndburn | £19,502 | +15.2% | 250 of 296 |
| Blackpool UA | £18,424 | +17.4% | 260 of 296 |
| Wyre | £18,294 | +14.3% | 262 of 296 |
| Ribble Valley | £17,964 | +18.3% | 267 of 296 |
| Westmorland and Furness | £16,680 | +19.2% | 276 of 296 |
| Blackburn with Darwen UA | £15,582 | +18.1% | 280 of 296 |
| Burnley | £15,358 | +16.8% | 281 of 296 |
| Pendle | £15,221 | +14.8% | 284 of 296 |
| Rossendale | £14,685 | +19.8% | 288 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
- London£64,921
- South East£35,296
- East of England£32,135
- East Midlands£28,602
- West Midlands£28,222
- 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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