Understand business rates in Northern Ireland

These rules are for Northern Ireland, where business rates (non-domestic rates) are separate from the rest of the UK. They are collected by Land and Property Services (LPS) for the Northern Ireland Executive and the district councils. If you use a building, or part of one, for business, you will probably pay them. Shops, offices, pubs, warehouses and factories are all rated.

How your bill is worked out

LPS values your premises at its Net Annual Value (NAV): the yearly rent it could reasonably be expected to let for on the open market, set in line with comparable properties nearby. Each of the 11 councils sets its own district rate, so identical premises can cost different amounts in different council areas.

Values come from a valuation list. The current list took effect on 1 April 2023 and uses rental values at 1 October 2021. The Finance Minister paused a planned 2026 revaluation on 29 January 2026. Your NAV is not your bill: check the estimate on the LPS property valuation search, which shows the full annual rates before any relief.

What is not rated

Most farmland and farm buildings, public parks, sewers and most cemeteries are left out of the valuation list. Places of public religious worship, church halls, council swimming pools and recreation facilities, charity shops that sell only donated goods, and ATMs in designated rural wards are exempt or partly exempt. If part of a building is a home and part is a business, you pay business rates on the business part and domestic rates on the rest. If you work from home, the room you use may be rated, depending on how far it is used only for business or has been adapted, for example as a workshop.

Tell LPS when something changes

Contact LPS when you move into premises, or you will risk a backdated bill. For a new building, a valuer assesses it and a bill follows. Contact LPS again when you leave, and when you extend, alter or change the use of the property, because that can change the NAV.

Challenge your valuation

If you think your NAV is wrong, ask LPS to review it. You then have 28 days from the notice of its decision to appeal to the Commissioner of Valuation, using form CR20. If you are still dissatisfied, you can appeal to the Northern Ireland Valuation Tribunal if the property is domestic or mixed with a NAV under £12,500, and otherwise to the Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland.

Keep paying your rates while you wait: if you succeed, LPS refunds any overpayment with interest. You do not need a representative, but if you hire a rating adviser, check their expertise and insurance and be wary of paying up front.

Industrial derating

Only Northern Ireland has industrial derating. The part of a property used in an industrial process is rated at 30% of its NAV, a 70% reduction. The premises must be mainly used and occupied as a factory, as the Factories Act (Northern Ireland) 1965 defines it. Private dwellings, shops, wholesale distribution, storage and public supply undertakings do not qualify. Parts that are not used in the industrial process get no relief, and LPS apportions the property to decide its main use.

The relief is not automatic: apply to LPS by asking for a valuation review. A valuer may inspect, and the review can take up to 90 days.

Premises used wholly for freight transport are rated on a quarter of their NAV.

Small Business Rate Relief

Other help with the bill

Empty premises

The person entitled to possession of empty premises must tell LPS and sign a vacant declaration, or they lose the free period and the 50% reduction.